CAPE TOWN A plan to build a 28m environmentally sensitive fibreoptic plant in Somerset West is on hold because AECI, which owns the land for which plans were drawn up, has decided not to sell it to the developers.

AECI, which still faces court claims after a devastating sulphur fire nearby in 1995, said FiberCore Africa's building of such a facility "would not be in the best long-term interests of the company".

AECI's board said it was refusing the sale by its property arm, Heartland Properties, as the scale of the development was much larger than originally proposed, and the world telecoms industry's economic sustainability was uncertain.

The development, a joint venture between the US parent of FiberCore Africa and the Industrial Development Corporation, intended to build a plant for single-mode fibres, and expected to create 133 jobs. It was strongly opposed by residents and business organisations, including the Helderberg Chamber of Commerce, on environmental grounds.

The chamber told provincial environmental minister Johan Gelderblom the health and environmental risks associated with the proposed plant were "far too great to be ignored".

Mar 24 2003 06:52:27:000AM Chris van Gass Business Day 1st Edition