Maputo — The construction of a deep water mineral port at Ponta Dobela, in Matutuine district, in the far south of Mozambique, could start within the next 18 months or two years, according to the French company, Bouyges International, one of those interested in bidding for work on the new port.

A delegation from Bouyges is currently in Maputo to discuss the project, and was received on Thursday by President Joaquim Chissano.

"We are discussing the concession to build, develop and manage the project for the benefit of Mozambique", the Bouyges director who led the delegation, Cristian Gazaignes, told reporters.

He gave no figures on how much it might cost to build the new port. Earlier estimates were that it would require a minimum of 515 million US dollars over a six year period.

Gazaignes, however, said the project would be implemented over 20 years. "Investments will always be made over the implementation period, for the port, for the container terminal, for tourism, and for the commercial area, among others", he said.

Bouyges was one of the companies that built the toll road between Maputo and the South African town of Witbank. Gazaignes said the company wishes to continue working "for the development of the country".

Chissano said that the project is "highly attractive". He said the idea the French businessmen had shown him includes a tourism area, that would act as a buffer zone between the port and the conservation area in the rest of Matutuine. This district is noted for its high degree of biodiversity, and includes the Maputo Elephant Reserve.

A port at Ponta Dobela would create many new jobs, Chissano said, and would have "synergies with the entire Maputo Corridor.

It would slot in very well with all the projects in the Libombos area (the Mozambique/Swaziland/South Africa border area)". "So it will bring a lot of added value to the country", said Chissano, "but there are problems of funding that must be solved in order for the project to be successful".

The idea to build a port at or near Ponta Dobela dates back to colonial times: the colonial authorities saw the potential of the area in the 1960s, and drew up viability studies. But after independence, with the apartheid regime boycotting Mozambican ports, all plans to build new ones were shelved.

Only when democracy came to South Africa could the possibility of a new mineral port in the far south of Mozambique be taken seriously again. In July 1999, the Mozambican government signed an agreement with the country's publicly owned ports and rail company, CFM, and with Porto Dobela Developments Ltd (a company registered in the Isle of Man, a tax haven off the British coast) on the principles underlying the building of a new port.

The prediction made then was that Dobela could handle 30 million tonnes of goods (mostly minerals) a year - which is vastly more than all Mozambique's current ports put together handle. This dream can only be realised if South African businesses in Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces can be persuaded to use Dobela rather than the South African ports of Durban or Richards Bay.

The huge advantage that the natural harbour at Ponta Dobela has is that, unlike Maputo port, it is not subject to silting, and so needs no dredging. Such a deep water port could accommodate much larger ships than can enter Maputo, and would be a feasible rival to Richards Bay.

But nobody has rushed to put money into Dobela Bay. The July 1999 agreement envisaged raising the funds within 18 months: but three and a half years have passed, and there has been little sign of movement.