Bait project a health hazard

THE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is pushing to close a R2.4-million failed bait fishing project on the Swartkops River because it is a health and environmental hazard.

The city has found that two containers set up as a working base for bait fishermen have been turned into a "filthy haven for drugs users and criminals".

The project was the brainchild of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism which set up the containers in 2005 to help fishermen earn an income.

The project was funded by the Norwegian government.

The department, helped by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, brought in equipment, a boat and containers to commercialise bait selling as part of a poverty alleviation project.

The project was then taken over by the Department of Agriculture,Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) in 2010.