SIPOKAZI FOKAZI
Health Writer
DOHA: South Africa is ready to host the world’s biggest radio telescope and the country is not going to “play dirty” or be distracted by people who can’t accept that Africa is capable of hosting and managing the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
That’s the word from Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor, who addressed the 7th World Conference of Science Journalists in Doha yesterday.
Pandor said the country had worked hard to reach this point in its efforts to win the bid to host the SKA at a site in the Northern Cape.
She said the SKA Africa bidding team was due to present its bid at the SKA Global Forum in Canada next week – the last, critical meeting before a final decision was made on which country would host the telescope.
This presentation, Pandor promised delegates, would show the world that South Africa was capable of providing a “cutting-edge technology that will revolutionise science”.
Pandor said some countries involved in bidding were “playing dirty by tearing down South Africa” instead of presenting the merits of their own bids.
But South Africa was not interested in going this route, she said: it would use the meeting in Canada next week to show that it was a world leader in science, and particularly in astronomy.
“We want people to come to Africa for a different purpose, and not the purpose they currently come here for. The country has done what it should do and has worked hard to meet timelines. We are ready for the construction to start next year if we win the bid and we are ready to show the world what the country is capable of,” she said.
Pandor told journalists that she had been asked in different forums why the country was bidding for a science project while it still had socio-economic challenges such as poverty. But she said hosting the telescope was one of way of recognising development, including the skills development which was expected to benefit young scientists.
Dr Bernie Fanaroff, the project director for South Africa’s SKA bid, said South Africa not only provided the ideal location and capacity for the telescope, but the site could be made available at low cost.
“Our cost advantage means the full scope of the SKA is more likely to be delivered in Africa, with significantly lower risk of delays and runaway costs,” he said.