Why no Bluewater Bay development?

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WITH major growth that has taken place at the Port of Ngqura and the Coega IDZ in the last 10 years, major companies now starting to invest in the Coega zones and more people moving into the area, one would think Bluewater Bay and surrounds would be booming with new competitive business. I have still to see signs of growth taking place in the area.

We still have one petrol station, one shopping centre, one unfinished hotel that has been a major eyesore for the last four years and a multimillion rand pipe dream, the Embizweni project (that would have created thousands of jobs for the Motherwell residents), that now only exists on the internet.

Basically every day, including weekends, lunchtimes, and between 4 and 6pm it becomes a mission finding parking at the Bluewater Bay N2 shopping centre.

Is growth being hampered by the rich who stand to lose the most if there were to be more competition in the area? Just a thought!

We see new shopping centres going up everywhere in the Bay, more hotels and growth in Summerstrand/ Humewood. Everything seems to be must-happen in Summerstrand.

The only things that haven't happened there yet are the Dusi Canoe Marathon and the Swartkops River Mile – I hold my breath!

We have first-class accommodation in Bluewater Bay and Sundays River, which is a mere minutes' drive to the new Coega IDZ, beautiful clean beaches, the Swartkops and Sundays rivers. We are close to Addo Elephant National Park, to name but a few attractions which form part of Nelson Mandela Bay, but tourists and contractors still choose to stay in Summerstrand.

Why? Because all growth is cramped into one place, Summerstrand/Humewood.

Was it not reported early last year by the Bay business chambers that the only way businesses could grow was if there was more diversity in the Bay?

One would think the municipality and NMB Business Chamber would have addressed these issues by now or are they blind to the potential outside Port Elizabeth or are there just no real visionaries left in the metropole? I think that there are no real visionaries left in the metropole is probably more correct.

No vision, no future – welcome to Nelson Mandela Bay.