By Mike Loewe
SCIENCE and Technology Minister Mosibudi Mangena will unveil a world-class science building in the Eastern Cape today.
The Herald was given a sneak preview of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity‘s (SAIAB) brand-new R14-million wet facility building in Grahamstown by SAIAB‘s managing director, Professor Paul Skelton.
The building is part of a joint venture between the powerful National Research Foundation, the government-owned SAIAB and Rhodes University.
The two-story building is literally bomb-proof – and has to be. It will house 650 000 priceless specimens – the largest African collection of fish and other water-related creatures – presently stored in tons of potentially inflammable alcohol and water mix in the crammed ground floor of the old SAIAB building.
Skelton said every detail of the new facility had been considered: the walls are double-thick, and because light and fluctuating temperatures are the biggest threat to the longevity of the specimens, the facility has only two metal-slatted windows to keep the collection at a “useable” 18°C.
The windows are designed to open quickly in case of a sudden build-up of fumes, while the ventilation system would kick in with a heavy blast of 800 bars to clear the air.
The collection will be held on mobile shelving – all 4km of it. He said it was an accolade for Grahamstown and the Eastern Cape to receive such an advanced investment in science.