SWAZI GOVT STANDS BY FLAWED PORT PLAN

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

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/08/doubts-over-swazilands-us3bn-port.html

 

SWAZILAND ‘TO BUILD $3bn SHIPPING PORT’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/08/swaziland-to-build-3bn-shipping-port.html

DOUBTS OVER SWAZILAND’S US$3bn PORT

Serious doubts have been raised about a plan to build a seaport in Swaziland, which has no coastline.

The Swazi Government earlier this month (August 2015) announced its support for a canal and port to be built linking Mlawula in Swaziland with the Mozambique coast. The port is planned for 15 to 20 hectares of land. The government also said a 26-kilometre-long canal would be built. The entire project is expected to cost at least US$3 billion.

Now, the Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique has reported that the plans are badly thought through. 

It reported on Tuesday (25 August 2015), ‘First, no point on the coast is a mere 26 kilometres from Mlawula. As the crow flies, the nearest point on the Mozambican coast is over 70 kilometres from the site of the proposed port.

‘Furthermore, as anyone who has driven from Maputo to Swaziland can testify, the land rises steeply. Canals are fine for transporting goods over flat terrain - but if there are hills in the way, locks must be built, dramatically increasing the costs. Building a canal with a system of locks capable of holding ocean-going vessels would be a massive engineering undertaking.

‘Such an operation is also entirely unnecessary.

‘Swaziland's main trading partner is South Africa. Over 90 percent of Swaziland's imports come from South Africa, and about 70 percent of its exports go to South Africa. So for the great bulk of Swazi trade a canal through Mozambique is simply irrelevant, as a glimpse at a map should show Moses Motsa and the Swazi government.

‘The rest of Swaziland's trade, for example with Europe or the United States, can be easily handled by the port of Maputo. There are already reasonable rail and road links between Swaziland and Maputo.

‘Upgrading these would certainly be much cheaper than building an inland port.’

It added that the Mozambican Government has not yet commented on the Swazi plan and do not seem to have been consulted on the possibility of a canal going through its territory.

The new information casts serious doubts on the Swazi Government’s ability to comprehend the complexity of the project.

The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom where most news media are censored, had reported the plan was confirmed by Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Gideon Dlamini. 

The Times reported him saying, ‘At government level, we are fully behind the project and we are giving it undivided support. The project owners had done presentations to Cabinet and we interrogated it and found that it is a wonderful one. Following Cabinet’s realisation that the project is good and viable, Prime Minister [Barnabas] Sibusiso Dlamini then tasked the different concerned ministries to start working together with the project owners straight away.’

See also

SWAZILAND ‘TO BUILD US$3bn SHIPPING PORT

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/08/swaziland-to-build-3bn-shipping-port.html

SWAZILAND ‘TO BUILD $3bn SHIPPING PORT’

The Government of Swaziland, an impoverished African nation with no coastline, has backed a plan to build a shipping port which will cost an estimated US$3 billion.

The scheme follows the completion of an ‘international’ airport, built in a wilderness that cost an estimated US$250 million to construct. Fewer than 150 passengers fly out of the King Mswati III Airport at Sikhuphe on any given day.

Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and the King appoints members of the government.

The airport, dubbed a ‘vanity project’ by aviation experts and the port are part of the King’s effort to turn his kingdom into a ‘First World’ nation by 2022. 

At present, seven in ten of the 1.3 million population live in abject poverty with incomes of less than US$2 per day. Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world and this year it is estimated that at least one-third of the population will need international food aid to avoid starvation.

Meanwhile, the King has 13 palaces, a private jet aircraft and fleets of BMW and Mercedes cars, which he shares with his 14 wives and vast royal family.

The plan is to build a 26-kilometre canal from the Mozambican sea to Mlawula, where the port will be constructed on 15 to 20 hectares of land.   

 

Media in Swaziland report it will cost an estimated E30 billion (US$3 billion).The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom where most news media are censored, reported the plan was confirmed by Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Gideon Dlamini. 

The Times reported him saying, ‘At government level, we are fully behind the project and we are giving it undivided support. The project owners had done presentations to Cabinet and we interrogated it and found that it is a wonderful one. Following Cabinet’s realisation that the project is good and viable, Prime Minister [Barnabas] Sibusiso Dlamini then tasked the different concerned ministries to start working together with the project owners straight away.’

The ministries involved are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

The plan is headed by Moses Motsa, who is often described in the Swazi and South African media as a ‘billionaire’, but it is not clear in which currency he holds his billion.

The Times reported, ‘Dlamini went on to say that each of the ministries had been given specific responsibilities that are in support of business magnate Moses Motsa and his partners. One of the most critical issues that the business proprietors need to be assisted in is having an agreement with the Mozambican Government as the port will be established through a canal coming from the Indian Ocean from the Republic of Mozambique.

‘In this regard, Dlamini said, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation was assigned by the PM to engage with Mozambique with the aim of reaching an agreement over accessing the sea.’

The Times reported Motsa saying the port would harbour big vessels and with docking for up to four ships at once.