EXPORTING SAND TO ST. HELENA

Informanté Namibia 28^th November 2013 by Floris Steenkamp

In what could be an unprecedented economic case for Namibia, the Walvis Bay-based Baard Group secured a contract for the export of sand to the island of Saint Helena, where an international airport is currently under construction. The sand requirement includes both dune sand as well as sifted sand, from the Swakop River.

A spokesperson for the Baard Group, René Baard, confirmed the contract this week and said the company’s customer is Basil Reid Construction, which has the tender to construct the airport for Saint Helena.

Saint Helena is one of the United Kingdom’s last British Overseas Territories (BOTs). The UK government wants BOTs to be less economically dependent on the British taxpayer, and the construction of an international airport is one of the measures to stimulate foreign trade and tourism. Walvis Bay is the closest port to Saint Helena, hence the decision to source construction material from here. All machinery and equipment used in the construction project on the island is also shipped from Walvis Bay.

According to Baard, 1,000 tonnes of river sand was already exported to Saint Helena and the process is currently in progress to export a further 1,000 tonnes of dune sand. Baard explained Saint Helena Island consists largely of a rugged mountainous environment. There is no sand for large scale construction on the island. Existing agriculture soil is highly treasured for coffee and banana production.

“All services at the airport in terms of electricity, water and communications are installed in underground channels, blasted for that specific purpose. The sand is used to cover these burrows again,” Baard explained. Baard Group also casts concrete lintels for window and door frames for the airport construction project, and anticipates that more orders for sand and other construction materials would be placed in the foreseeable future.

Saint Helena international airport is scheduled to open in mid-2015 and will also accommodate flights from the Walvis Bay airport.