Cable car plans for Port St Johns

A lofty goal of erecting a cable car to ferry tourists across the mighty Umzimvubu River in Port St John’s (PSJ) may be dashed before it even gets off the ground, writes Business Reporter Taralyn Bro.

Despite advertising for bids for the funding, construction and operations of the cable car system – to be modelled on Cape Town’s famous cable car up the Table Mountain –  PSJ Local Economic Development manager Elizabeth Quist on Monday told the Daily Dispatch that if funds aren’t forthcoming from the private sector, the cable car will not materialise.

There are about five sites that have been earmarked as possible sites for the cable car, with an approximate cost ranging from R23 million to R120m.

The two most popular options are to string the cable between Mount Sullivan and Mount Thesiger, meaning tourists will get a trip across the Umzimvubu River.

Alternatively, the cable could be strung from the top of Mount Sullivan into town.

The public invitation has also been issued – with a closing date set for the end of January next year – despite the fact that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is still ongoing, and Quist acknowledged that the sites mooted for the cable car’s start and end points are environmentally sensitive.

“The EIA is in process and we hope to have it done by next year,” she said, adding that while she was unsure whether the site at the top of Mount Sullivan was indeed a protected area, she acknowledged that the whole of PSJ is a sensitive area, full of indigenous flora.

Quist said the cable car concept would have to be in line with the National Environmental Management Act, and that “if we fail to get it (the EIA), then that’s fine. We want to be legal”.

Quist said the cable car idea came about as a project from the municipality’s 2010 business plan which identified projects that council could embark on to draw in tourists to the area.

For the full story, read the print or online edition of the Dispatch.