Gautrain Wins International Award
The Gautrain Project recently earned international respect in the Public Private Partnerships industry after winning the “Best Global Project to Sign” Award at the 2008 Public Private Finance Awards.
Hosted by the United Kingdom’s Public Private Finance Magazine, the awards are aimed at highlighting the best public private partnerships and deals around the world.
The Gautrain project was shortlisted in the “Best Global Project to Sign” category alongside the Britannia Mine Water Treatment Plant in Canada and The Conference Centre Dublin in Ireland.
The judges declared the Gautrain the winning global project, citing the project’s expertise in overcoming the unique engineering and socio-economic developmental requirements in the delivery of the project.
Geological difficulties, the intricate topography of Gauteng and the unique socio-economic deliverables of the Gautrain Project made the project a deserving winner, said the judges’ statement.
“This award shows we can hold our own in the world,” said Gautrain Project Leader Jack van der Merwe.
Gautrain’s communications manager Barbara Jensen agrees: “This award means as much, if not more for South Africa. It really shows that South Africa is capable of delivering on huge mega-structure infrastructure projects like the Gautrain.”
The Gautrain is currently the biggest PPP project in Africa. Key public partners include the National Departments of Finance and Transport as well as the Gauteng Provincial Government.
The project’s four private partners are grouped under the Bombela Consortium. They consist of Canadian company Bombardier, a French construction company called Bouygues Travaux Public, Murray & Roberts and the Strategic Partners Group which is a consortium of South African black-owned companies.
The budget for the Gautrain Project is R25.2 billion, which translates into R25 million a day being spent on the construction of Africa’s first state-of-the-art underground rail network.
According to a statement released by the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link, the project has created and is sustaining 93 000 direct and indirect jobs.
For more on the awards visit: awards.publicprivatefinance.com
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