Letter: Not an answer

Bruni Ammann of Umdloti on the subject of a Sibaya university: Thank you for your long response to my letter (Why build a university on the coastal belt?, June 29).

I certainly agree with what you write, development cannot be stopped and the need for a good school in our region is obvious, plus work is needed for lots of people indeed.

Unfortunately, you did not reply to my actual point and that is, why build a tertiary institution at the doorstep of Umdloti?

You mention you and your company have discussed this with all the stakeholders. Are the residents of Umdloti also not stakeholders? Were we consulted?

I have suggested in my letter, why not build the school more inland, north of Cornubia or south of the airport which also is close to the coast and has the necessary infrastructure already?

With that you would not ruin a popular, established coastal resort.

I think that students don’t need a sea view while learning and I am still unclear as to how you see a coastal university being able to solve the education of passing matriculants better than a university built more inland.

Your reply is a typical big company letter focused only on itself and its own interests, which is more of a “smoke screen” to bulldoze people into thinking that what you are planning is the only right way.

In your letter not a single thought was given to the residents of Umdloti.

Your statistics may be impressive to you and your company but mean very little to those of us whose lives you are having an impact on. In other words, you simply “walk over” Umdloti’s residents as if they do not exist, people who have chosen to live in Umdloti because of its tranquillity and laidback life style.