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NEWS: Coastal wetlands are unable to adapt to the rate of sea-level rise and are constrained by infrastructure

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Wetlands, precious ecosystems that shield coastlines, safeguard drinking water from saltwater contamination, and nourish diverse wildlife, face a dire threat from the accelerating pace of sea-level rise, driven by global warming. Wetlands have historically adapted to rising sea levels by expanding upward and inland. However, predictions indicate that the waterline will soon shift far too rapidly for wetlands to keep pace. Consequently, future decades may witness the tragic loss of these vital wetland ecosystems. Wetlands along coastlines have historically played valuable roles for people and wildlife, but are now facing the threat of sea-level rise. As temperatures rise, sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, and wetlands are unable to keep pace by building upward and migrating inland. This is due to human-induced climate change and the burning of fossil fuels, which has warmed the oceans and melted glaciers. Sea levels are now rising at about 10 millimeters per year, and are
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NEWS: Chinese put service delivery in perspective

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Lauren Anthony believes  the recent events in China  have put South Africa's service delivery issues in perspective and she believes our construction industry should be taking lessons from the Chinese to overcome our service delivery issues.

The emergence of the coronavirus, now exceeding the global death toll of the previous Sars epidemic, has dominated international headlines.

However, one related news story is making quite an impact on South Africans, where government’s failing service delivery is a constant cause of anguish.

This is the construction of a 1 000-bed hospital in Wuhan, at the epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak, as a way to contain the disease.

But it’s not the hospital that’s making such an impact, it’s the speed of construction.The two-story, 366 000-square-foot Huoshenshan Hospital was built in an incredible 10 days.Employing 7 000 workers operating day and night, the hospital was constructed using pre-fabricated units with the design almost from scratch.

In addition to this, another 1 500-bed hospital facility is set to be unveiled shortly.

History of speedy construction

However, this is by no means a first for the Chinese in terms of construction records.

In 2003, the Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing was built in just one week as a way to accommodate those showing symptoms of the Sars virus.Using 4 000 workers, the hospital became a world record for fastest construction of this building type.

Outside of hospitals, the Chinese have shown incredible design and execution speed and skill across a number of sectors.In 2018, 1 500 workers built a railway for the new train station in Longyan City, connecting Nanping and Longyan, in just nine hours.

The previous year, 200 workers were able to demolish the Longwangmiao Overpass in Nanchang in a mere eight hours, while one construction company was able to erect a 57-storey skyscraper (Mini Sky City) in Changsha in only 19 working days.

And it’s not just within Chinese borders that these feats of construction are being achieved. China is literally making inroads in Africa by assisting with building the 472-km Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, Kenya’s single largest infrastructure project; as well as Africa’s longest suspension bridge – the Maputo-Catembe Bridge – a 3km suspension bridge which extends 680 metres over Maputo Bay.

In a recent report, Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, was quoted as saying: ‘This authoritarian country relies on this top-down mobilisation approach. They can overcome bureaucratic nature and financial constraints and are able to mobilise all of the resources.’

South Africa flails

When it comes to South Africa, we are more likely to see university students demolishing a building unnecessarily in protest action, or arsonists destroying railway cars in Cape Town, than the construction of much-needed infrastructure in such a time.

As a result of mismanagement of funds, corruption and inefficiency, we are suffering through debilitating load-shedding, with families trying to survive in shacks while children are literally dying in pit latrines at rundown schools.This is not to say that advances aren’t being made, they are just not being made quickly enough.

Protest action against government inefficiency is on the rise. The people are angry and frustrated – for good reason.Despite a quarter of a century of promises, the government has failed to deliver the required housing, schooling and vital infrastructure needed to elevate the citizens out of poverty.

According to recent statistics, some 14% of South Africans live in informal housing, with some 2.1 million homes needed to be built to accommodate these individuals.

There is no doubt the two countries are vastly different and so many factors are contributing to the current situation.China operates under a communist regime, and the media restriction means issues such as potential human rights violations are kept away from the international eye.South Africa is contending with apartheid-era divisions that are still being addressed.

But as a member of BRICS, surely, we should be leveraging this relationship and learning what we can from the Chinese nation on construction and delivery?

It might not take 10 days to build a hospital, but our people cannot be made to wait out their lives in the hope of homes, schools and health care facilities promised every election.

This letter was written by Lauren Anthony and was first published on the Zululand Observer

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