Donwald Pressly’s article, “Transnet ‘sinks plan’ for ship repair hub” (Business Report, January 30), again demonstrates the tragedy of lost economic opportunities.

For over 10 years the business sector, led at the time by the Cape Regional Chamber of Commerce, has lobbied the government to open up the development of oil service hub facilities. Cape Town and Saldanha Bay are ideally positioned to undertake this role.

The industry formed the SA Oil and Gas Alliance and has each year attended the world’s largest offshore oil conference, the Offshore Technology Conference, in Houston, Texas.

We are told that Cape Town is a desirable location for major international oil exploration companies to base themselves. We have the port facilities so why the delay? The potential is enormous as there are over 400 rigs operating off Angola. They need to be serviced. It is estimated that a staggering $90 billion (R672bn) will need to be spent to do this over the next four years.

There are other oil service hubs, but they are far away. Singapore is one of the largest and it has a five-year waiting list. While South Africa’s Transnet National Ports Authority prevaricates, we know Namibia is bending over backwards to build such a facility at Walvis Bay.

With an established engineering industry in the Western Cape and good training colleges, we are well positioned to provide the skills required to service such an industry. The plea must be to the government at the highest level to give the necessary commitment. This will be a real investment in jobs, that can lead to a whole new industry of thousands of opportunities.

Colin Boyes

Executive Director, Cape Engineers’ and Founders’ Association – SEIFSA Cape

Address power theft before cutting use

With regard to a potential electricity shortage, it seems the time has come for our Department of Energy to get its house in order. We are constantly being asked to reduce electricity consumption, but has it ever occurred to anyone that a vast amount of electricity is being stolen? Perhaps it would be sensible to install a special unit whose sole task is to track down illegal users, and to give them such a hefty fine that they would hesitate to engage further in this method of theft. These fines would help to pay for the running of such a unit, and may well overcome the crisis.

It is not only the very poor people who steal electricity, but a great number who think it is yet another means of “beating the system” – something which has become endemic to a certain level of society. Why should I restrict my activities when many thousands of people are using electricity free of charge? It’s the old story: what you get for nothing you abuse.

While on a mutter, several other areas would solve many problems and save many lives, if regulated. The first is the illegal purchase of driving licences. It is well known that a driving licence is available, without any test, for a bribe of R2 000 at any licensing office. About 90 percent of all road accidents that we read and hear about involve taxis – with unlicensed drivers. Does anyone in the government care?

Regarding rhino horns: can anyone convince me that these can get through our ports, airways and border posts, without being detected? No, there are more bribes going on here. Then: cable theft. Surely there is someone in our government who has sufficient brainpower to track down the buyers of stolen cable?

Perhaps our government, when they can get their bottoms off their lavish chairs, could address these – and many other – problems (anyone like a further list?), or are they scared of losing the votes of thieves at the next elections? If these are the votes they depend upon, then we have the wrong government in office.

C Harvey-Williams

Bloemfontein

Boycott imports, free range chicken is best

I read with interest the letters by Mr Keith Lauwrens and Mr David Wolpert in the Business Report of January 30.

No mention is made of the common practice in poultry marketing to dump surplus product in markets below cost, in order to maintain prices in your home market .This practice was implemented before free enterprise with chicken and eggs in South Africa before 1994.

The answer is to find out the retail price in Brazil for chicken and relate it to a Johannesburg price. The chances are that these prices will be slightly cheaper because of their better grain production, but certainly not 27 percent as our poultry producers are as efficient as any in the world.

The contention that imports will not create unemployment is nonsense .

It takes one person to order many containers full of frozen product whereas it takes a great number of labourers to produce the same quantity of product in spite of mechanisation.

By the way, this whole discussion only refers to frozen chicken.

Rumour has it that some dealers order frozen product and by the time it arrives in South Africa it is “fresh” (thawed).

I would not advise anybody to buy “fresh” chicken from overseas. Frozen chickens sometimes have up to 30 percent brine (water) added.

Free range chickens are the answer. They do cost more to produce but:

n They do not add any water (brine);

n No hormones are used;

n No growth stimulants are used;

n No fish meal, bone meal or by products are used in the feed;

n The chickens are allowed free access to grass and outside sunshine, and

n Stocking density is much lower than most other producers.

Neil Malan, Chicken Farmer since 1966

via e-mail

Work together for strictly halaal meat

In the aftermath of the halaal meat scandal, which implicated the Cape-based Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), a thorough review of every item that was sanctioned for Muslim consumption, by them and others, needs to be done to placate a community now very doubtful of ever touching anything with the now dubious label.

Halaal meat, here and abroad, is a multibillion-dollar industry, and the commercial aspect of this burgeoning industry is over-zealously protected, with scant respect proffered to the strict requirements of Islamic sharia law.

An unsuspecting public, that for years has been hoodwinked into purchasing meat and poultry, thinking that this was slaughtered according to Muslim rites, will now be ever more vigilant.

Calls for the disbanding of the MJC, and for the other certifying units such as the SA National Halaal Authority, Islamic Council of South Africa and National Independent Halaal Trust, to join hands and form a unitary body that would nationally oversee the strict monitoring of meat, borne out of this current quartet, and one that espouses uncompromising tenets, should be the next step.

AR Modak

Johannesburg