The municipality has agreed that it does not have the money to build the centre, but has come up with "innovative" ways of raising funds.

The project is now being handled by the municipality's development arm ? the Mandela Bay Development Agency ? which has been tasked to develop "prudent and responsible" ways of raising funding for the centre.

MBDA chief executive Pierre Voges said on Thursday that to eliminate fly- by-night developers, they would request a R100,000 non-refundable deposit to accompany the expressions of interest.

"We are looking for serious and committed developers who can deliver on the project," he said.

Deputy mayor Bicks Ndoni said last week there was a strong political commitment in the council to see that the project was achieved. "The mayor is really committed to this project. We must move with speed. We will be calling for expressions of interest from next week and those developers interested should respond."

He said although there were a number of potential sites, the council had not yet decided on one. "We are still flexible on the site. The decision will depend on the proposals we receive and then we can decided which site is suitable,? said Ndoni.

Available sites included the area around the 2010 soccer stadium, the Kings Beach area, Humerail (the army base on the hill), Morton Bay (opposite the Paxton Hotel) and the EPRFU stadium due to be demolished after the completion of the North End stadium.

Responding to a proposal to borrow money offshore to finance projects, budget and treasury committee chairman Masla Odayar said this week that the Municipal Finance Management Act did not allow municipalities to borrow offshore. "Some years ago, local authorities used to go that route, but they burnt their fingers . . .

"Paying back that loan might mean substantial increases in rates and residents will not take this lightly," said Odayar.

Eastern Province Herald