The Swaziland Government
has confirmed that it has not consulted with neighbouring
Mozambique on a plan
to build a US$3 billion port and canal linking that country’s coast to
Swaziland.
And, Minister of Commerce
Industry and Trade Gideon Dlamini said the project would be as successful as
the US$250 million King Mswati III (KMIII) International Airport.
He meant this to
highlight that the seaport would be a success, but the KMIII flies fewer than
150 passengers out of the kingdom on any given day.
Dlamini was interviewed
by the Sunday Observer, a newspaper in Swaziland that is in effect owned
by King Mswati, after the plan for the port received international scorn. When
the government announced the plan in August 2015 it said a 26-km canal would
link a proposed seaport at Mlawula in the Lubombo region with the Mozambique coast.
However, it was soon pointed out that the distance to the coast was more than 70
km. Swaziland has no coastline of its own.
In his interview, Dlamini
conceded that they had miscalculated the distance. He also told the newspaper
that the Swazi Government had not consulted with Mozambique about digging a
canal through its territory.
The seaport and canal in
the landlocked kingdom has been criticised outside Swaziland as another vanity
project for King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last
absolute monarch. The KMIII
Airport, formally known as Sikhuphe, was built on the instructions of the
King, without benefit of a needs analysis. It has proved to be a disaster since
it was formally opened in March 2014. Only one airline uses the airport, and
that is partly owned by Swaziland.
No other commercial
airline has publicly said it is interested in using the airport.
Dlamini in his interview
with the Observer also said the new
seaport would be superior to ports in both Maputo in Mozambique and Durban in
South Africa. The initial announcement said the Swaziland port would be capable
of handling four ships at a time.
Dlamini was reported by
the Observer saying, ‘The problem
with the Maputo and Durban ports is their shallowness. These two ports are not
deep enough to handle heavy ships and we have received reports that there are
ships that face difficulty docking in these ports because they are not deep
enough,’ he said.
Dlamini added, ‘The
proposal for our seaport shows that it will be very deep and this would enable
bigger ships that cannot dock in both Maputo and Durban to come here. The
seaport that we will have will be of first world status and will have better
facilities compared to Maputo and Durban. The deeper the seaport the better and
ours will be better than Maputo and Durban.’
See also
DOUBTS OVER SWAZILAND’S US$3bn PORT
SWAZILAND ‘TO BUILD $3bn SHIPPING PORT’
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