UAE President arrived in the EC after building R368 million runway

The president of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, recently arrived at the Eastern Cape’s Bulembu Airport in what some saw as a controversial landing by the head of state.

Among the concerns raised was that he landed with about 60 family members on a runway that he built himself at a cost of about R368 million – ostensible for him to be able to visit a resort he owned in the province.

Usual airports

Some also asked why Al-Nahyan, as a head of state, didn’t use the usual airports such as OR Tambo or Waterkloof in Pretoria.

They missed one thing: for a rich man who can build a runway, cost is not an issue. It’s pocket money for him. I doubt if he needed taxpayers’ money to build it.

Also, the president, like many other foreigners, owns numerous properties in South Africa and has a right to invest in this country.

We have many foreign business tycoons who own prime land here. Besides, we have no law in South Africa that prohibits investors from the East or Middle East from purchasing property.

To build the runway was the UAE leader’s choice and we should, in fact, welcome it as an investment in SA’s poorest province.

The Eastern Cape government should, in fact, take its cue from him and improve the airport and restore it to its original state as an international airport.

Bulembu is not only central in the Eastern Cape – compared to other airports in Mthatha, East London and Gqeberha – but it is closer to the seat of Eastern Cape government in Bhisho, a roughly 15 to 20-minute drive to the Eastern Cape Legislature and government offices.

Convenient

It is a convenient destination for international tourists interested in seeing the province’s inland tourist attractions, including its numerous game reserves and trails and many battlegrounds where the frontier wars were fought.

Landing at East London or Gqeberha airports when going inland to places like Amathole Trail or the University of Fort Hare, had proven to be an inconvenience, time-consuming and expensive.

Both Bulembu and Mthatha airports were neglected by the democratic government, which let the infrastructure, inherited from the Ciskei and Transkei governments, deteriorate.

Mthatha Airport was fully operational for a limited time and it’s where the body of Nelson Mandela was received before his burial at his nearby Qunu home in late 2013.

The ANC neglected all the assets it inherited from these Bantustans. Maybe they kept the Ciskei parliament because they needed it house the Eastern Cape Legislature.

The Bhisho capital is an eyesore, despite housing many government offices. The place lost its commercial status when anchor investors, such as Pick n Pay and Sun International’s Amatola Sun Casino, left due to a poor economy under the ANC.

I hope Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane will correct the mistake of his predecessors, taking a cue from the UAE president and recommissioning the airport.

There is an urgent need to revive Bulembu Airport to be used by foreign investors and local business people interested in investing in the Eastern Cape.

The airport is near the Dimbaza industrial hub, where many foreign investors opened factories which provide local jobs. Investors always look for the nearest international airport so that they can transport their goods cheaply.

Bulembu Airport would serve that aim and there would be no need to export goods via OR Tambo or other airports. That’s something that the Eastern Cape authorities must think about.

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