Gautrain+running+late+as+financial+talks+grind+on,+B+Day




 * Business Day, Johannesburg, 05 January 2006, front page lead.**

=**Gautrain running late as financial talks grind on**=


 * Chantelle Benjamin**
 * Johannesburg Metro Editor**

FINANCIAL closure for the R20bn Gautrain project which government had hoped would be concluded by the end of last year has still not materialised, raising fears of further delays.

Project leader Jack van der Merwe yesterday conceded “a number of outstanding issues” still stood between the planning and implementation phases of the controversial project. He would not commit himself as to exactly when construction work would be able to start.

Van der Merwe said he still believed that construction would begin “some time in February”. “It is difficult to say because there are still quite a number of issues that we need to agree on,” he said.

“We won’t be held to ransom by the media in order to make a prescribed date.

“This is a fixed-price turnkey project, and no issues can be left unresolved. Otherwise it could result in unexpected costs. The project has to be completed within the financial limits set by government.”

The project would take “as long as it needs”.

Among issues to be finalised in negotiations are ticket prices, a communication and marketing plan and private-sector contributions to the project.

Government has insisted the project, which is to be constructed in phases, will be completed in time for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. However, it has been plagued by delays since it was first proposed in 2000. Bouygues, the French construction company that makes up part of the consortium, admitted in October that the project schedule of 54 months was tight and left little margin for error — a daunting prospect for the complicated R20bn project.

On top of this, the project has faced a number of legal battles, firstly from the black empowerment arm of the consortium, which went to court over control of the lucrative BEE share, and challenges by two residents’ associations concerned about the train’s effect on their suburbs.

Les Elliott, project director of the Bombela consortium, was tightlipped yesterday about negotiations with government, saying: “It’s progressing quite well, and that is all I am willing to say now.”

Van der Merwe said preparatory work, such as the moving of Eskom lines or water pipes, had begun in certain areas.

Meanwhile, Gautrain project members and officials of the national department of transport met yesterday to discuss how the train will be integrated with the province’s present transport system.

When the cabinet approved the project late last year, it did so on the understanding that the department would report back at the start of the year on how this could be done.

This was one of the biggest criticisms by Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport, which felt that the project catered for a small, privileged sector of the population — those who could otherwise drive by car to Pretoria or Johannesburg International Airport — ignoring the plight of the many Gauteng residents who are disadvantaged by the crumbling Metrorail system.

Despite Gauteng premier Mbazima Shilowa’s insistence that the committee had not offered any new perspective on the matter, Van der Merwe said the report submitted to the cabinet would take into consideration all suggestions made to the department.

“The plans look at the strategic integration of the train, such as land use and development around the train, and operational integration, which means ensuring that there is sufficient transport to and from the station for commuters,” he said.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A134144**