Karen Sandison PRIVATE
DA ward councillor Heinz de Boer has criticised the eThekwini Municipality’s plans to spend R26.7 million on building a tidal pool at Umhlanga, saying it may lead to a monumental waste of ratepayers’ money.
According to budgetary information contained in the latest report of the council’s Finance and Procurement Committee, De Boer said the city intended to spend the money building a tidal pool near the Umhlanga lighthouse, which is among beaches extensively damaged during storms three years ago, “necessitating another costly repair exercise”.
“Under the stormwater budgetary items, the city’s Stormwater and Coastal Management Department intends spending R2.29m in the 20122013 financial year, R6.5m in the 20132014 financial year and R18m in the 20142015 financial year.”
De Boer said he had asked engineers to speak to local residents before the environmental impact assessment was allowed to continue.
“There are concerns about this project going ahead, not least the fact that the project appears to be obscenely expensive.
“At a time when this very same department is warning of climate change, shifts in high water levels and a need to remove hard structures from our beaches, it prepares to spend R26m on a pool that could very well be washed into the sea by storms,” De Boer said.
While the pool would bring “fantastic tourism” for Umhlanga, De Boer warned that it would also come with problems. “Umhlanga, does not have the parking facilities to support dozens of extra cars coming to the beach every weekend. Serious concerns have been voiced about the safety of a tidal pool, particularly at high tide when waves spill into it.
“In the long run, the city may spend millions extra on staff salaries for lifeguards and metro police, and the construction of new parking lots and infrastructure if the pool is allowed to continue.”
In an e-mail response to De Boer’s concerns, Godfrey Vella, a senior manager of Coastal Engineering from eThekwini Municipality, said that a survey in the form of a questionnaire had been done.
“The project was delayed after the 2007 storm… and the tidal pool was put on hold. The project was reinstated at the end of 2010.”
“The outcomes of the public meeting and the survey show that many of the concerns are opinions that cannot currently be substantiated by facts or research.
“The eThekwini municipality, therefore, has continued with the assessment process,” Vella said.
