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PROPERTY
DEVELOPMENT, ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION
Building
Prospects - 1st Quarter 2002
Dr. Johan Snyman of MFA writes that the MFA building indicator that
represents the collective wisdom of business people moved sideways
during the fourth quarter of 2001. This is probably attributable
to the events following on the "nine-eleven" attack in
the USA.
(©www.asaqs.co.za)
Maintenance
needs at jails, bases to be probed
The public works department has appointed 81 engineering firms to
determine the maintenance needs of prisons and military bases. The
maintenance backlog is estimated at R10bn. In a process that will
cost the department R26m, the firms will produce a situation report
in six months, examining structural, building, civil, mechanical
and electrical needs to determine the total value of repairing and
maintaining 146 prisons and 41 military bases.
(©www.bday.co.za)
R33m
earmarked for Mpumalanga prisons
Two Mpumalanga prisons have been given R33-million to repair their
buildings and improve the standards of prison accommodation. The
money is part of R620-million budgeted last year by the national
Department of Public Works for its repair and maintenance programme
(Ramp).
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
WBHO,
Rainbow win off-ramp project
The R35m contract for the complex construction of an off-ramp from
the M1 highway to Johannesburg's cultural precinct in Newtown has
been awarded to a joint venture between Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon
(WBHO) and black empowerment company Rainbow Construction.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Coega
project beset with pitfalls, says coalition
THE costs of constructing both the proposed Coega harbour and the
industrial development zone (IDZ) have considerably increased since
the initial impact assessments. This means that an entirely new
cost and benefit analysis must be done for the harbour to reflect
the devaluation of the rand, says a coalition group which opposes
the development.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Coega
harbour gets the green light
Johannesburg - Construction of the deep-water port at Coega in the
Eastern Cape was given the green light yesterday when the National
Ports Authority of SA confirmed that tenders would go out tomorrow.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Talks
about salt pan clog development project
Johannesburg - Anglovaal Industries (AVI) and the National Ports
Authority (NPA) say talks between them over the sale of salt pans
in the Coega estuary are continuing. The two parties are negotiating
the sale to the NPA of salt pans operated by Cerebos Salts, an AVI
subsidiary, to make way for the proposed port of Ngqurha (Coega).
(©www.busrep.co.za)
BHP-Billiton
may build at Coega
Global resources group BHP-Billiton confirmed yesterday that it
could build a $1,75bn aluminium anchor project in the Coega industrial
development zone. Officials from the company have this week been
in discussions with the trade and industry department and with Coega
officials about the possibility of building a two-phased aluminium
smelter similar to the Mozal I and II twin development in Mozambique.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Managing
the risks of natural gas
“While natural gas is made up of 92% flammable methane it is
a relatively safe gas if associated risks are managed properly,”
says Martin Peet of Sasol at a conference held in Midrand at the
end of last year.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
AmCham
is concerned at lack of SA investment
The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in SA believes the reasons
for lack of investment in SA go deeper than concern about the deteriorating
situation in Zimbabwe, AmCham director Luanne Grant has reported
to members. Grant, who late last year announced a programme to publicise
the success of US companies in SA and how much they spent on social
responsibility programmes, said that the relationship between the
SA government and US business was at its best in six years.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Platinum
Park moves to fourth phase
Platinum Park, an industrial site at Marconi Beam in Cape Town,
is on the verge of entering its fourth phase of development. The
launch of the fourth phase, on 2060m², will require confidence
from the developers, Rabie Property Developers, in an environment
characterised by oversupply. Developers say they have received the
green light from the market to go ahead with planning, and building
will begin this year.
(©www.bday.co.za)
PPC
authorises share buy backs
Cement producer Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) on Friday said it
was negotiating the sale of its stakes in Natal Portland Cement
(NPC) and Ash Resources. Speaking at the group's annual meeting,
chairman Warren Clewlow said the sale would not materially affect
earnings per share. At the meeting a special resolution was passed
authorising directors to buy back PPC shares on the JSE Securities
Exchange South Africa (JSE).
(©www.bday.co.za)
US
investors flee from ghosts of asbestos
Viacom owns the CBS television network. Dow Chemical sells Saran
plastic wrap. Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing introduced the
Post-It Note. As diverse as these businesses are, their shares have
been pummelled by mounting concern over their links to asbestos,
a cancer-causing mineral. The effects have exposed them to lawsuits
that investors say may dog them for years.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Steel
takes heat from liquidation
Johannesburg - The liquidation of one of the largest independent
steel construction companies has sent ripples through the R3.5 billion
a year industry, which has warned that its export efforts may be
dampened. The Southern African Institute of Steel Construction said
yesterday that the industry's largest independent company - Girder
Naco - had been put into provisional liquidation.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Will
Rainbow make Saldanha shine?
Once-beleaguered Saldanha Steel, now part of Iscor, is set for a
new era of success thanks to the implementation of Project Rainbow,
including the relining of the Corex.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Four-pronged
growth strategy
A four-pronged strategy developed by the Association of Steel Tube
and Pipe Manufacturers of South Africa aims to increase industry
sales of steel tube and pipe to 500 000 t in four years.
The organisation hopes to achieve this goal through increasing exports,
combating imports, capturing growth opportunities and combating
substitute products.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Eskom
clears feasibility hurdles on road to novel nuclear reactor
Cape Town - Eskom has crossed the preliminary hurdles relating to
its plans to build the world's first nuclear pebble bed modular
reactor. The initial feasibility phase has been completed (at a
cost of R500 million) and a detailed feasibility report is being
reviewed by the investing parties. It has also been submitted for
review to a 14-member panel of international experts appointed by
the government.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Aluminium
product makers hurt by rand's big decline
The dramatic depreciation of the rand has had dire consequences
for South Africa's aluminium-product makers, who are now paying
upwards of 20% more for aluminium extrusions, after price increases
in November and earlier this month.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Development
corridor a boon for Pretoria
The Mandela Development Corridor (MDC) in central Pretoria will
create a turnover of R1,8-billion a year for this inner-city area,
as well as 9 000 job opportunities.
The project pivotal to the corridor's development is the Department
of Trade and Industry's (DTI's) new campus-style head office, directly
fronting the Apies River and Nelson Mandela Drive.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Engineering
industry gears up for Gauteng bullet train
There is significant interest from the engineering industry in building
and operating the proposed bullet train link between Johannesburg
and Pretoria and Sandton and the Johannesburg International Airport
(JIA), says project leader and Gauteng Public Transport, Roads and
Works department head Jack van der Merwe.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
HOUSING NEWS AND LAND ISSUES
PAC
backs debate on land ownership
The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) has welcomed an African National
Congress suggestion that there should be a debate on land ownership.
Yesterday PAC deputy president Motsoko Pheko said: "The truth
is that a landless people is no nation. Land ownership is the basis
for nationhood." Not long ago, President Thabo Mbeki had said
the problem in SA was homelessness, not land. "The PAC rejected
this erroneous view. Homes are not built in the sky or in the air,
but on the land," said Pheko
(©www.bday.co.za)
Victims get R38m for land
One of the country's trickiest and challenging land claims was settled
on Saturday at Cato Manor outside Durban at a cost of R38m. Deputy
President Jacob Zuma and other high-ranking government officials
attended the settlement celebrations, following tough negotiations
for about six years between various parties. A total of 9132 victims
of forced removals from places like Seaview, Mariannhill and Maritzburg
were compensated at last for their loss decades ago under apartheid
legislation.
(©www.bday.co.za)
SAB
gives back R10.5m to province's poorest
Durban - Refuse-ridden informal settlements west of Pinetown are
being cleaned up in a R1.9 million drive launched by SAB, which
invests R10.5 million a year in social projects in KwaZulu-Natal.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
| PRETORIA INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS - CPD COURSE
- 22 FEBRUARY 2002 |
| Are
you equipped to handle the changing challenges of practice?
Join the team as, together, we learn to:
§ Confront and deal with the 'Work at
Risk' phenomenon
§ Structure an efficient professional team
§ Aim at maximising profit in a fee reduction environment
§ Focus on a positive cash flow and reduce bad debts
§ Deal with threats from a contractor to stop work
§ Deal with defective design by a selected sub-contractor
§ Handle and evaluate claims for extension of time
§ Respond to claims for professional negligence
This crash course is presented by Eyvind
Finsen and Eugene Barnard.
|
COST
TO PIA & SAIA MEMBERS ONLY (incl. Documentation) R 250.00
+ vat R 35.00 = R 285.00 *
COST TO NON-MEMBERS OF PIA & SAIA (incl.
Documentation) R 500.00 + vat R 70.00 = R 570.00 *
CLOSING DATE FOR REGISTRATION : 14 FEBRUARY
2002 / Cancellations received after this date will be non-refundable.
DELEGATES WHO REGISTER BEFORE 14-2-2002 WILL RECEIVE CPD CERTIFICATES
OF ATTENDANCE ON THE DAY
For more information phone :
Michèle - PIA office (012-347-0680 tel. am)
or e-mail admin.pia@saia.org.za
|
NEWS
FROM AFRICA
Big
African Renaissance gathering
More than 300 delegates from African countries and abroad will attend
the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) workshop
to be held from tomorrow to January 29.
This four-day workshop, taking place at the Kopanong Conference
Centre, in Benoni, will be attended by delegates from business,
government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based
organisations.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Eskom
to work with Shell on Nigerian project
ABUJA SA's Eskom Enterprises and the Shell Petroleum Development
Company (SPDC) have landed a $540m contract for the rehabilitation
of a cluster of power plants in Rivers State, Nigeria, and the start-up
of a fifth plant. Eskom will act as the maintenance and operations
subcontractor to Shell for 15 years. The contract between the two,
which is still subject to final negotiations, would cover the four
existing Afam power plants as well as the new Afam V, which has
just been built and is soon to be commissioned.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Kisangani
feels effects of volcano
The repercussions of a volcanic eruption that partially destroyed
this northeastern city have spread to the centre of Democratic Republic
of Congo, a Red Cross official said yesterday. The several hundred
thousand inhabitants of Kisangani, the Congo River port 520km northwest
of Goma, faced a dangerous shortage of drinking water and food,
said Walter Stocker, the country director in Congo for the International
Committee for the Red Cross.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Nigeria
to build world's biggest deepsea oil buoy
Abuja - The Nigerian Naval Dockyard in Lagos has won an order to
build the world's biggest deepwater oil offloading buoy for Shell's
Bonga development, one of Bonga's main contractors announced on
Wednesday.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Gaz
de France to sign 20-year gas import deal with Egypt's LNG
Cairo - French gas company Gaz de France will buy a stake in an
Egyptian LNG joint venture and sign a 20-year deal on Monday to
import 3.6 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year, firms
involved in the deal said.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Bouygues/Saipem
win Algeria $257m oilfield deal
Algiers - Algerian state-run oil and gas firm Sonatrach on Monday
granted a consortium of Italian oilfield equipment maker Saipem
and French construction firm Bouygues a $257-million oilfield development
project.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Zimbabwe
targeted as seed oil hub
Johannesburg - Seed Oil Refinery SA (Sorsa) hoped to establish Zimbabwe
as the next seed oil hub, with extensive seed oil plantations and
its own seed oil refinery, the company said at the weekend.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
MINING
NEWS
AngloGold:
a lateral route
AngloGold's graceful withdrawal from the bidding for Australian
gold miner Normandy raises more questions than it settles. If the
world's largest gold producer cannot land a smaller company outside
SA, what future role can it hope to play in the world gold industry's
consolidation?
(©www.bday.co.za)
Anglo
impact on Zambia probed
The International Monetary Fund says it is sending a team to Zambia
to examine developments there after mining giant Anglo American
pulled out of a troubled mining venture.
(©www.news24.co.za)
AngloGold
looks to African mines
Company considering raising stakes in Mali, Tanzania, as part of
growth plan. AngloGold, which last week took a knock when it lost
takeover target Australia's Normandy mining to USbased Newmont,
said it would consider building up its stakes in mines in Mali and
Tanzania. Already, AngloGold owns a 40% stake in the low-cost Morila
mine in Mali. Randgold Resources also holds 40% and the Malian government
the remainder.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Three
Free State shafts reopened
The new Harmony Gold/African Rainbow Minerals joint venture which
took over four mines in the region from Anglogold, is to re-open
three shafts which had been closed by the previous owners.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)
Big
gem sampling off Namibian coast
Canadian-listed marine-diamond explorer Afri-Can Marine Mining reports
that its initial sampling programme off the Namibian coast was completed
on schedule in December.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)
US
and Oz threaten SA's position as world's premier gold producer
South Africa's position as the world's premier gold producer could
be threatened by countries such as the US and Australia as a result
of the continued decline in gold production from local mines, reports
the Department of Minerals and Energy.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)
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