In a joint venture between Rhodes University and the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, a R12-million, stateof-the-art fish collection facility will be developed and completed by June next year.

The building has become necessary because of the expansion of the institute and the risk to occupational health and safety.

Institute managing director Dr Paul Skelton said: "In the case of SAIAB as a national facility the risk of fire is more serious because the collection is stored in inflammable preservatives, and the size of the collection has grown during the last few decades."

The fish collection was started by ichthyologist J L B Smith in 1946 and, now 49 years old, is the largest wet collection in South Africa.

The potential health risk from atmospheric pollution by the fixatives and preservatives used in the collection, if levels are not properly managed and controlled, has also seen it necessary to separate the collection from people. "All the safety aspects of the new facility have been handled by national experts," said Skelton.

The property will also accommodate a hatchery and fish farm and the single-storey structure will be solid enough to take a second floor in the future.

Security will be key to the new building, and the entire institute and collection will be walled off from Somerset Street.

"The city will be pleased with the aesthetics of the new building, which will have indigenous plants and shrubs," Skelton said.

The building has been in the pipeline for the past two years, Skelton said, and it would take about nine months to complete.

Phase two of the development will include the renovation of the present building.

The new building will be similar in size to SAIAB, but the amount of shelving and storage space will be three times the present capacity.

"The presence of a national facility in the Eastern Cape is a statement of confidence in Grahamtown," Skelton said.

The facility will be funded by the National Research Foundation, which is a government agency.

Eastern Province Herald
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge