2 February 2012      

As he is possibly the only MP who resides in Hout Bay, on behalf of the IFP, Hon M GR Oriani-Ambrosini MP called on Premier Helen Zille and MEC for Transport Robin Carlise to "stop and re-think".

He added, "The recent history of Chapman's Peak Drive is a string of errors, the compound effect of which is now forcing the present course of events.

Instead of committing to one more error, forced by the strength of past errors, we must step back and take a hard look at the entire situation to ensure that this national monument and treasure is going to be available to us all for many generations to come.

Many of the interventions made on Chapman's Peak to prevent the harm caused by falling rocks have proven to be huge and expensive mistakes, time and again, and they had to be repeated, corrected and improved time and again.

The terms by which the privatization of the exercise of the road have taken place have also been a mistake. The management of the road is a mistake which results in daily inefficiency and outrageous tolls paid by local commuters and tourists alike.

We should go back and rectify all these mistakes rather than being forced into new and bigger mistakes because we are trapped by past mistakes.

A solution must emerge taking into account the need of the communities which use the road for daily commuting, and the preservation of the tourism and environmental value of this road."

He could not help himself but to add to highlight that Chapman's Peak Drive is particularly dear to him because it is in his own backyard, and it has been built with the blood and sweat of so many Italian prisoners of war.

Contact:
Dr Mario Oriani-Ambrosini MP (IFP) on 082 556 0240