Save the Mzimvubu River!

Port St John's in the Eastern Cape, South Africa needs a 'Waste Water Treatment Works' (WWTW) for sewage.

But there is a problem, one of the proposed sites 'Site 4’ (there are 3 in total) is now going ahead to the ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ stage.

'Site 4' is right above the Mzimvubu river, at the entrance to one of the main tourism areas in Port St John's, and it would require the chopping down of 4 to 6 hectares of pristine indigenous forest.

The WWTW will ultimately discharge into the river upstream of all of the tourist resorts on the river, the main fishing spots, & the town itself.

"I am not in favor of any sewerage treatment system discharging directly into a river.............

Positioning upstream also poses a threat on the estuary/river system downstream. Based on municipal service delivery track records nationally, there is no guarantee of the quality of the discharge nor the functioning and maintenance of the plant.

One just needs one hiccup and disaster will be looming."

Dr Shane Sparg

Technical Director. www.localbiodiversity.org

The preferred site for the engineers is Site 4, it’s the 'cheapest and the easiest' for them but at what cost to the river, tourism & ultimately the town of Port St John’s & its people?

The engineers wish to run sewerage pipes alongside of the river, over the bridge, across the wetlands & up to the proposed Site 4.

What will happen when the river floods?

Why position the WWTW in a place where if problems do arise, the consequences to the river, the environment, tourism, for jobs & the people, will be terrible.

Let's not fix a problem by making another problem. Let common sense prevail, & let us find the right solution, not the 'cheapest', not the 'easiest', but the right solution.

Save the Mzimvubu river!

Please make your voice heard & say ‘NO’ to Site 4 for the Waste Water Treatment Works in Port St John's.