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Webmaster's Comments
Alcan 'chose' Coega, Coega 'beat' the competition :
Translation = no other country wanted Alcan.
The government will pay : Translation = you, the taxpayer, will
pay.
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One of the CDC
(Coega Development Corporation)'s favourite phrases is
how Coega is going to provide jobs - and how any
objection to development is taking the bread out of the
mouths of the Eastern Cape's more impoverished citizens.
This is a twist on the truth, Coega will provide jobs,
BUT not for those who need it the most, it will provide
jobs for the skilled and semi-skilled, not the average
person sitting in a shack with an extended family to
support and only a basic education, there are very few
jobs for the unskilled. What the Eastern Cape
needs are empowerment projects, not ones that cost R2.1
million and only provide 10 permanent jobs with a
possibility of more [Link].
Not that I am dissing the Walmer Township project at
all, all projects to alleviate unemployment are welcome,
specifically those that do not harm our environment, I
just feel that more focus should be put on promoting
small businesses within the impoverished areas.
Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man
to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. To
equal 1000 jobs, teach 100 to 'fish' they can each
provide employment for 10 = 1000 jobs, without harming
the environment. |
In the Herald (28/05/2007) on the front page is an article
titled 'Strong Bay business boom shows no sign of
slowing'
Link
A somewhat misleading heading for those who need jobs
the most, the poorest of the poor. A few of points
taken from the article:-
-
"thousands
of middle- class professionals flock to fill jobs
created by major developments around the city and
Coega" Once again that word 'professionals'.
-
"to bring
in well over 2 300 working professionals and their
families to the city over the next five years"
again that word 'professionals'.
-
"Developments at Coega alone will bring in an
estimated 2 000 professionals" again......
-
"World Cup
stadium has already brought in 15 professionals from
a Dutch architectural firm" how is that
benefiting EC locals?
-
"during the
next few months could bring in more specialists from
outside the city if they are not found locally"
see comment above.
-
"large
number of middle-class professionals with their
families had very important benefits for the city."
do I have to make the obvious comment?
-
"undoubtedly
promote visits and attract other professionals,
entrepreneurs and skilled management personnel to
the region" see points 1,2 and 3.
- "will attract more engineers, architects,
urban designers, land economists and town planners
from outside the Bay." once again, we are not
talking about those that need jobs the most.
- "positive impact on creating employment for
the local population" but not the unskilled
local population.
- "potential for the tourism sector to mushroom
was massive" and "high demand for office and
shopping centre space with three “major shopping
centres" Offices and shopping centres do not
bring in tourists. They have enough of those
in their own towns/countries, they want an escape
from that.
- "centres were being built to cope with the
'massive current demand'" well that is just a
joke, the recently built shopping centres are barely
quarter full at peak times, there is no current
demand for more malls. The only demand is from
developers to destroy what's left of our 'green
areas' for their own profit.
- "According to CDC estimates, 30% of those
employed could come from outside of the city – a
result of the specific skills needed to fulfill
high-level jobs which the company would bring in
with them." And that is the bottom line,
no mention once again for the unskilled.
- The only positive part of this entire article is
the one about the pending shrimp processing plant,
and downside of that is "if all goes ahead".
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