[meteorite-list] Airport To Be Built on Tswaing Crater in South Africa

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Apr 3 20:50:26 2006
Message-ID: <200604030553.k335rBB01502_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=15347,1,22

Fuss over Fassie airport
Vibe reporter
Citizen.co.za (South Africa)
April 3, 2006

JOHANNESBURG - Plans to build a new international airport on the site of
the Tswaing crater outside Tshwane have hit a hitch.

The airport, which is to be named in honour of the late Brenda Fassie,
was proposed ten months ago.

It has been enthusiastically promoted as an alternative to the air
traffic congestion at Johannesburg International and it would also
provide a source of income to the local community.

Funding has already been tentatively approved from the Tshwane
Development Fund and additional funds have also been earmarked for the
project by the Lotto.

But environmentalists have now climbed on the bandwagon and started
circulating an e-mail petition asking residents to stop the project from
going ahead.

They claim the value of the site as an educational and environmental
site is far more valuable.

'Save the Gat" spokesman Ekardt Krap said: "Since 1993 we have battled
to get this important site recognised. Only in 2001 did they decide to
develop it into an ecotourism destination. That year, it became the
Tswaing Meteorite Crater Museum.

"We must also be concerned about the resident plant species and
wildlife, especially the 240-odd species of birds found at this site.

"What is happening here is pure political greed."

Mr Krap said he hoped that if the project went ahead another meteor
would come and land on the same spot decimating the development.

It is believed that 220 000 years ago a blazing stony meteorite the size
of half a football field slammed into the earth's crust leaving behind a
huge crater, 1,4 km in diameter and 200m deep.

Architects and planners believe this crater would be ideal for tarring
and developing as an airport runway, as it is so flat.

It is believed that another row is simmering as fans of Winnie Mandela
believe the airport should be named after her.
Received on Mon 03 Apr 2006 01:53:11 AM PDT