Scrap+Gautrain,+says+SACP+youth,+Business+Day




 * Business Day, Johannesburg, 2006/01/16 12:00:00 AM**

=Scrap Gautrain, says SACP youth=


 * Jonathan Katzenellenbogen, International Affairs Editor**

IN A move that could signal greater pressure from the South African Communist Party (SACP) to scrap the R20bn Gautrain project, the party’s youth wing, the Young Communist League (YCL), yesterday called for the project to be cancelled.

In a statement released after a weekend meeting in Johannesburg, the YCL’s national committee called for the funds which would have been spent on Gautrain to be used instead on improving the transport system for the poor.

Plans for the Gautrain project, a public-private partnership managed by the Gauteng provincial government, envisage a mostly underground rapid train service between downtown Johannesburg and Tshwane as well as a link from Sandton to Johannesburg International Airport.

SACP deputy secretary-general Jeremy Cronin has led opposition to the Gautrain in Parliament, although the party itself has yet to adopt a formal position.

It has called for discussions within the ANC-led tripartite alliance on the project as it believes it will not benefit the poor.

The YCL said resources earmarked for Gautrain could be better used on improving bus transport and the national and regional road systems.

The Young Communist League said there was also reason for disappointment because most of the production phase of the project would take place in Germany and France, and the project would rely heavily on imported skills.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=1844199**