Plunging into Plett
Developers from all over the world have rushed to buy pieces of Plettenberg Bay. And since they are flooding the market with high-priced plots, there could soon be more properties than buyers. The foreigners are mainly unborrowed, so it is highly borrowed local developers who may suffer most. Fred Arijs, head of a 10-company Belgian consortium developing 800 stands at Whale Rock, says a 1 000 m² stand he sold last year for R900 000 has just been resold for R1,6m. He says he is selling an average of 10 properties a month. David Hall, new head of sales for a German consortium's 150-stand Schoongezicht Estate, expects to increase sales above the two-year average of three a month.
(©www.fm.co.za)

New Nelson Mandela Hospital in Umtata benefits from innovative design approach
The new Nelson Mandela Hospital in Umtata will open its doors to the public in the course of 2002. After being designated a presidential project, the construction of the hospital was prioritised. Health planners from the CSIR were contracted by the Eastern Cape Department of Health to assist with the briefing and conceptual planning of the project. They would work together with Bartsch Consult, who had already been appointed as architects and principal agents.
(©www.csir.co.za)

Vast AECI land sales to fuel development
THE large tracts of land owned by chemicals group AECI are to be released onto the market in a plan that could produce three new pockets of commercial activity for Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Memory of the struggle to live on in Liliesleaf Museum
R70m development of the complex includes a hotel and conference centre. It is 39 years since that winter's day of July 11 1963 when police raided an isolated farmhouse named Liliesleaf on a dusty road in Rivonia, north of Johannesburg.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Gas pipeline project under way Sasol
PETROCHEMICALS and fuel group Sasol announced yesterday that construction had begun in SA on the new R10bn pipeline project which would deliver natural gas from Mozambique to Secunda in 2004.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Work begins on gas pipeline
An official sod-turning ceremony yesterday marked the start of construction of a pipeline to transport natural gas from Mozambique to South Africa.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Entech to invest in Lagos beach project
Abuja Correspondent An SA construction firm, Entech, is set to contribute about $60m to a beach transformation project in Nigeria's financial hub, Lagos.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Jailed ex-CE opens case against judge
THE former CE of the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, Masupha Sole, who was jailed for 18 years for corruption, has begun legal action against the judge in his case.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Africa ahead of other developing regions
Africa, with an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of more than 4% in 2001, grew at a faster rate than any other developing region last year, according to a United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Africa report for 2002.
(©www.bday.co.za)

SA arm of troubled German group allays fears
Power engineering company Steinmüller Africa, which is partially owned by troubled German group Babcock Borsig, has been in talks with its banks, clients and subcontractors to allay fears that the South African operation may be affected by the possible liquidation of the company.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

US excludes 23 more steel products from duties
The US Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) have announced the release of the fourth set of products to be excluded from the safeguard measure on steel products, introduced by President George W Bush on March 5, 2002.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Resolution on ‘evergreen’ timber contracts still awaited
Sawmilling company Yorkcor has been embroiled in ongoing litigation with the State-owned timber group Safcol in defence of its evergreen timber-supply contracts, and resolution is still some way off.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

World faces slump as natural resources run out
Humanity is heading for a sharp drop in living standards by the middle of the century unless it stops its massive depletion of the Earth's natural resources, according to a report issued earlier this week.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Enviro study starts for Jhb-Pta superhighway
The environmental-impact assessment (EIA) study for the proposed Johannesburg Pretoria toll-road corridor network is currently under way.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

SAFCEC NEWS

NEPAD Plans to Build Tunnel to Europe, says Senegalese President
SAPA (Johannesburg) July 5, 2002
Senegalese President Abdoudalaye Wade said Friday the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) has plans to construct a tunnel linking Africa with Europe under the Mediterranean sea.
"NEPAD plans to construct a tunnel linking Africa to Europe under the Mediterranean Sea from the northern tip of Algeria through to Gibraltar," Wade told a ministerial conference here on African environment, which ended on Friday. Wade said the tunnel would strengthen trading potential between the two continents.

Other NEPAD projects would include an inter-Africa road network linking Dakar to Indian Ocean seaports, airports and railway lines on the eastern side of the continent.

The Rainbow Millennium Power Company (RMPC), owned by South African engineers and businessmen, has entered into an agreement with Black & Veatch International (Kansas City, Missouri) to develop a 210 megawatt (MW) power plant in Richards Bay in the country's Kwazulu-Natal province. The $210 million plant will burn waste coal that is generated at mines exporting coal through the port of Richards Bay. In addition to power generation, the plant will produce about 80 tons of steam per hour, which will be sold to a nearby paper mill.

Mozambique is planning to modernize Maputo International airport's infrastructure to meet the demand from the booming tourism flows in the Southern African region which are expected to reach $52 billion by 2010. The project will also facilitate domestic and regional market integration. Up to $30 million will be required for rehabilitation of the passenger terminal, the cargo terminal, runway re-surfacing, and the parking area.

The existing Itezhi-Tezhi dam has been selected by the Zambian government as the site for the construction of a 120MW hydropower station costing $73.1 million. A 600MW hydroelectric project in the Kafue Gorge, 65 km upstream from the confluence of the Kafue River and the Zambezi, has been costed at $450 million. Both of these projects are slated for private sector funding. Power will be sold to the Zambian market and export markets, which up to present have been supplied by the state owned Zambia Electric Service Company.

The Ugandan Civil Aviation Authority is to develop the capacity of Entebbe International airport to meet future traffic demand and increase the airport's aeronautical and commercial revenues.

The TDA has funded a feasibility study on the Northern Corridor Pipeline (NCP), which will serve Uganda and the western Lake Victoria region with petroleum products including premium petrol, diesel, paraffin, and Jet A1. The Ugandan section of the pipeline will connect with the existing Kenya Pipeline terminus at Eldoret in Kenya in the east and will run across the Ugandan-Kenya border to Kampala and westward to a terminal serving targeted markets, which are presently served by tanker trucks. Initial estimates put the cost of the NCP at between $120 million and $150 million. Demand growth through to 2020 should be served by an eight-inch pipe that would reduce to six inches when running west of Kampala.

A 10,000 ton per year manufacturing facility project for the production of instant dry yeast and some wet yeast is proposed by Jalaf Agency, a private South African company. At an estimated cost of $40 million, the plant will be built alongside an existing sugar mill in a rural area and will use molasses (sugar by-product) for the dry yeast fermentation process. This arrangement will minimize transportation and associated costs of raw materials. Product from the $40 million facility will serve markets in Africa and possibly overseas.

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The Move to Sale-leasebacks
SALE-LEASEBACK PROVIDERS are preparing for a rush of new business. These transactions, already estimated to represent a market of $6 billion per year, are poised to grow in popularity because of their appeal as an alternative source of financing in today's tight lending environment and increasing accounting concerns over synthetic leases. Synthetic leases — a short-term financing vehicle considered an option to sale-leasebacks — are becoming a less attractive financing method for companies now that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is looking into changing the rules that allow off-balance-sheet accounting for the leases. Spurred to action by the collapse of Enron and its use of off-balance-sheet entities, FASB is expected to issue new guidelines in August.
(©www.industryclick.com)

Owners: Pursuing International Opportunities
THIS PAST SPRING, ProLogis' (NYSE: PLD) European Properties Fund purchased a 1.8 million sq. ft. portfolio of four distribution centers in France from FM Logistics for an undisclosed price. Such transactions are now almost commonplace at Aurora, Colo.-based ProLogis.
(©www.industryclick.com)

Going Global
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENTS ARE GETTING bigger these days, and they're taking on more of an international flavor. Take two of the major deals Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle won in the past six months. In late January, the company signed a contract to manage 16 million sq. ft. of space for Rockwell Automation, an industrial products company, in 40 different countries. Earlier that month, software giant Microsoft Corp. picked the company to manage 8 million sq. ft. of property, which includes offices in Africa and the Middle East
(©www.industryclick.com)

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MortgageSA sets sights on low-cost housing
HOME loan originator MortgageSA has set its sights on the lower end of the housing market, and has partnered KwaZulu-Natal micro lender Ithala Development Finance Corporation in making inroads into the low-cost housing market.
(©www.bday.co.za)

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Kadhafi pitches his tent in Swaziland
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi -- on a road trip through southern Africa - pitched his tent in the Swazi royal kraal last night, refusing to sleep in a hotel
(©www.bday.co.za)

Angola extends Cabinda oil rights to 2030
A consortium led by Angolan state energy firm Sonangol has extended its offshore drilling and exploration rights in Cabinda until 2030, Portuguese lawyers negotiating the deal have said.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Nigeria, Morocco in telecoms restructuring
Nigeria's privatisation agency earlier this week said that 14 international telecoms operators have expressed interest in managing national phone company Nitel.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Zimbabwe's land policy sure recipe for famine
Massive humanitarian aid is needed as agriculture withers under Mugabe Commercial farmers in Zimbabwe have been forbidden to farm on pain of incarceration, states the latest directive of President Robert Mugabe.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Zimbabwe warned against using food aid as a political weapon
International Affairs Editor THE World Food Programme (WFP) has warned Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe that it will pull out of the country if food is used for political purposes.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Top Zimbabwean group paints gloomy picture
The government still has no economic policy Harare Correspondent A LEADING Zimbabwean company painted a gloomy picture yesterday of the economic situation, warning that "unless the political environment improves" recovery would remain out of reach.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Tunisia to export LNG to Europe by 2004
Tunisia hopes to export up to 900-million cubic metres of liquefied natural gas within two years in a bid to attract foreign investment in its energy sector, a government official said in remarks published earlier this week.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

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Khumalo is set to pay £15m for Cluff Mining shares
MZI Khumalo, who is steadily building up a portfolio of mining assets, is to pay £15m for Cluff Mining shares and future rights to Cluff shares, which could see the entrepreneur holding a stake of about 27% in the UK-listed company by the end of next year.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Bateman to mine gold in central Asia
Unlisted local construction group Bateman has announced two promising new projects in the Commonwealth of Independent States, which could be worth billions of rands.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Mozal 2 smelter expansion well ahead of schedule
Completion of $860m second phase will double aluminium output by adding 253000 tons a year THE Mozal 2 aluminium smelter expansion project is well under way near Maputo, with 42% of the construction complete against the scheduled 29%.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Resources firm reviews Iran oil project role
The world’s largest diversified miner BHP Billiton yesterday said it was reviewing whether it would participate in the Iran Foroozan-Esfandiar oilfields rejuvenation project.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Tanzania expects to double gold exports in 2003
Tanzania, Africa’s third-largest gold producer, hopes to almost double its gold exports by December 2003 with the expected opening of a new mine next year, officials said.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Four hurt, three missing in gold-mine accident
Four miners were injured and three were missing after an underground tremor hit the Evander gold mine in Mpumalanga, owner Harmony Gold Mining said.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

SA engineering group pursues CIS mining projects
Local engineering group Bateman BV has been awarded a $197,8-million contract to revamp and modernise a gold-recovery complex for the Navoi mining and metallurgical Kombinat in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Donors pledge $1,3bn for Zambia
Western donors have pledged to give Zambia $1,3-billion in budget support and project grants, but did not provide financing for the country’s troubled copper mines, a senior World Bank official has said.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Kolwezi copper project restructured
Mining companies America Mineral Fields (AMZ) and Anglo American yesterday announced that the shareholding of their joint venture company Congo Mineral Developments (CMD), the entity which holds their interests in the Kolwezi cobalt-copper tailings project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been restructured.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Gov and AngloPlat reach agreement
After a number of meetings between the Department of Minerals and Energy and Anglo Platinum an agreement, which is subject to ratification by the Anglo Platinum board and the Minister of Minerals and Energy, has been reached.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Gold hedging here to stay, says expert
A leading commodities risk-management expert has come out in defence of gold-price hedging, suggesting that it will continue to play a role in the gold market well into the future despite current negativity.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

China interest in Central Rand gold prospect
A group representing Chinese mining interests are keen to examine and possibly resume gold-mining on the Central Rand, where research by the University of the Witwatersrand’s Centre for Applied Mining and Exploration Geology (Cameg) has delineated a substantial golg resource.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Two Rivers (platinum project)
Avmin and Impala Platinum (Implats) have formed a joint-venture company, Two Rivers Platinum, to develop, manage and operate a new platinum group metals (PGMs) mine.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

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Spotlight on: Worcester
The trek away from increasing congestion in Cape Town's main dormitory areas has boosted residential property demand in Worcester, the principal town of the fruit and wine-producing Breede River Valley.
(©www.property24.co.za)

When trees become a thorny issue
Perhaps it's seasonal, but there has been a substantial increase recently in the number of disputes about trees in sectional title schemes.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Real estate entrepreneurs need shelter
The recent alarming rise in the number of company and close corporation liquidations underlines the need for those opening new real estate businesses to seek shelter in strong brands and excellent support systems.
(©www.property24.co.za)

New JV to enhance Property24
Absa and Naspers' Media24 have entered into a joint venture to enhance Property24 - South Africa's biggest and most comprehensive property listing portal.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Time for sellers to review prices
Home sellers who doubt what their agents tell them about the effect rising interest rates can have on demand - and thus on pricing - need look no further than the latest transfer statistics from Property24 for confirmation.
These figures, compiled from Deeds Office records, show that the number of residential property transfers in April and May this year fell a whopping 25 percent compared to the number registered in February and March, and that the total value of transfers fell 26 percent (see Transfer Statistics in Property Links section below), representing a loss of more than R2,5-billion to the real estate industry.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Everitt first on TV property show
Berry Everitt, the go-ahead young MD of Johannesburg estate agency group ERA Chas Everitt, is once again demonstrating the initiative that led to him being named recently as one of the real estate industry's current top 10 'Movers and Shakers'.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Homenet posts R2,6bn turnover
Homenet, South Africa's biggest real estate group, has reported sales turnover of more than R2,6-billion in the financial year to end-March, from more than 8 800 home sales.
(©www.property24.co.za)

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Status of the construction industry in South Africa
The Department of Public Works recently conducted a status quo review of the South African construction industry from a perspective of the objectives of construction industry development. The findings of this study (undertaken by the CSR) are based on economic data from several sources and interviews with a large number of role players in industry.
(©www.csir.co.za)

ProjectDash
Our Software Reveiw Team checks out ProjectDash an Internet-based service developed by iDashes, Inc. for capturing project status and communicating project performance.
With ProjectDash companies are able to meet objective, customer-defined expectations, and projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to much happier customers...
(©www.projectmagazine.com)

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Rand steady below 10/$
The rand firmed back through the key 10 to the dollar level on Friday on demand sparked by offshore banks. The move gave bonds a slight boost ahead of June inflation data, due next week.
(©www.news24.com)

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Mild rise in inflation seen
South Africa's main inflation rates are likely to have risen modestly in June, reinforcing the view that interest rates will not rise again this year, a Reuters poll shows.
(©www.news24.com)

A sad farewell to BoE
Cape Town - Shares in banking group BoE cease trading on Wednesday night as a takeover by Nedcor goes into effect, putting an end to 164 years of independence and drawing to a close one of the most turbulent chapters in the bank's history.
(©www.news24.com)

Betrayal of trust
Investing in shares is an act of trust. The investor has to believe the company concerned is set to grow, the management is honest and the figures in the annual accounts are accurate.
(©www.fm.co.za)

It's hard to get started
Start!
It's hard to get started.
That could mean a lot of different things, so let me talk about a few of them.
For one thing, getting started in the morning can be pretty difficult for a lot of folks: just getting to that first cup of coffee can be the biggest challenge of the day! Try this: at the end of today, try to save something for tomorrow that you are really looking forward to doing. Then, when your eyes open and that dreadful feeling of "I don't wanna get up!" starts to flood over you, you might remember the fun thing you saved for yourself and jump out of bed with enthusiasm. (Or not!)
(©www.projectmagazine.com)

Are Quantity Surveyors given the recognition they deserve?
My opinion
Qs's do not get the recognition that they should, but they can only blame themselves. Recognition is not just obtainable, but must be earned. We sometimes think that long and hard hours deserves recognition - that's not true.... writes Rouan on the General Discussion Forum What do you think?

Visit our brand new forums on the ASAQS website you'll find them by clicking on Topics on the menubar of our site.

Quantity Surveyor Wanted
Qualified QS required with either BSc or BTech qualification. At least 2 years experience in housing required for work in the Fourways area.
Quantity Surveyor
QS to join our dinamic firm.Preferably BSc(QS) degree, or B-Tech with minimum 4 years experience.Take full QS responsibilities working with clients and handling own projects. Good future - to start as soon as possible.
Seen on ASAQS Classifieds

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New members to the CUG

Magmoed Laatoe
Fred Perfect
Dennis Robinson
Martin Nel

Please note that your registration to the CUG will remain in force as long as you remain a member of ASAQS and there is no need to register every year. If you have not received an e-mail confirming your registration contact ASAQS.

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