NEGOTIATIONS HAVE been concluded with state utility Eskom for the supply and installation of electrical transmission lines and transformers for the East London Industrial Development Zone. The Transmission Lines and transformers will be supplied, installed and commissioned by December 2003 or during the first quarter of 2004, according to ceo Peter Miles. They will power development throughout East London’s West Bank industrial area, in addition to the IDZ, according to Miles. Detailed planning of the main transmission lines to be installed is underway, while consultants are being appointed to draw up a Master Plan for the zone, and will be appointed by the end of November 2002. Design guidelines and detailed planning framework for the IDZ will then be drawn up by the appointed team of consultants, together with the main services contract consortia. Miles reports that “substantial progress” has been made in consultation with the Buffalo City Municipality on reaching common ground on the provision of critical infrastructure essential for the East London IDZ, particularly the external sewerage lines to link up the IDZ to the existing sewerage works at the Hood Point Sewerage works. “Planning will continue in earnest over the next few months and will intensify as the rest of the professional consultants are appointed to augment the existing consortia in finalising the Master Plan for the entire IDZ, to allow for maximum flexibility for the provision of services, roads and infrastructure for the later phases of the East London Industrial Development Zone,” she says. Detailed planning is scheduled to be completed during by April / May 2003. Planning for the IDZ will involve provision for a future Customs Secure Area (CSA), an Industrial Area located alongside the CSA and the Transportation Area (of approximately 10 hectares), located in close proximity to the CSA and the Industrial Area will provide facilities for taxis, busses, private cars and ancillary buildings to serve the IDZ infrastructure including an electrical sub – station.