NAMIBIAN SEAL CULL
Please help us to help the seals. It will only cost you the time to compose and send a short e-mail. The National Council of SPCAs calls upon all our supporters, readers and everyone who joins us in opposing this unnecessary and cruel killing of innocent seals in our neighboring country. Please assist by sending a letter to the Namibia Ombusdman John Walters by e-mail to:ivanwyk@ombudsman.org.na
You can use "seal cull" or "legal summary" as the subject line or reference.
BACKGROUND
Sealers will club seal pups and will shoot bulls in Namibia from 01 July 2011 to fill a contract to supply seal skins until 2019.
We have been advised us of the legal opinion in Namibia showing that the seal harvest is unlawful, unsustainable and cruel. The Ombudsman has read the legal opinion and agreed to meet with heads of government before 0I July 2011, with a view to stopping it, and has requested a summary of opinion for his meeting to take place this week. The Ombudsman has the legal power to end it or take the matter to the high court for a complete review.
The legal opinion can be seen through this link: - Mediafire.com or a summary of legal opinion
The greater support that can be shown to the Ombudsman, by empowering him with our global support, in writing to him directly with letters supporting the seal harvest be halted as per the legal opinion, the greater our chances of success. You can write to the Ombudsman John Walters at ivanwyk@ombudsman.org.na.
The NSPCA is working on information received from Myra Kinghorn and we respectfully ask that any enquiries are directed to her not ourselves. She can be reached via (myraliz@hotmail.co.uk) Many thanks - let's make a difference together!
ACSA's Goodwill gesture
Goodwill gesture to World Cup ticket holding passengers unable to attend the 7 July semi-final On Friday last week, 9 July 2010, ACSA announced, through a statement issued to the media, that it had put R400,000.00 aside as a goodwill gesture towards semi-final match ticket holding passengers who were unable to attend the 7 July 2010 semi-final match because their aircraft were forced to either return to base or divert to other airports. Six flights were affected, namely SAA 575, SA 1339, Kulula MN603, Kulula MN641, BA 6313 and BA 6307
If you were affected, please contact ACSA’s Customer Care Team.
Road Closures at O.R. Tambo International Airport leading up to and including the 2010 Soccer World Cup
As part of our preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and in order to ensure seamless traffic congestion management during this period, Airports Company South Africa in conjunction with the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department and the South African Police Force have scheduled, planned road closures at O.R. Tambo International Airport. Please be advised therefore that as of Monday 10th 2010, the lower road way which is normally used for pick- ups (Arrivals), will be closed to the general public.
Motorists who wish to drop off passengers will be directed to the upper roadway (Departures), those who are there to pick up arriving passengers are advised to make use of our parking bays. The airport has a 15 minute free parking grace period in all parking areas, which gives you enough time to collect and drive off. The closures will be implemented on the following days throughout the month of May:
Mondays 06h00 - 09h00
Wednesdays 10h00 -14h00
Fridays 14h00- 20h00
Sundays 17h00- 20h00
This exercise will ultimately result in complete road closures in some areas for members of the public from June 1st until the end of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
George flights canceled as rain closes airport
AIR traffic has come to a standstill at George Airport because of rain, disrupting the itineraries of hundreds of passengers, including Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.
On Sunday, 24 flights were canceled and by yesterday afternoon rain and fog had led to the cancellation of a further 21 flights.
Flights to George were diverted to Port Elizabeth, while passengers stranded in George were taken there by bus to catch connecting flights, airport manager Brenda Moses said yesterday. But reports coming into The Herald indicated that these re-routed passengers were still struggling to get to their destinations, with a flight to Durban being canceled twice before it finally left last night.
The turmoil follows the ruling last week by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which said until friction tests were reviewed the runway would be closed as a precautionary measure during rainy weather.
The tests were undertaken following a probe into the dramatic crash landing of an SA Airlink jet at the airport in December.
Moses said about 600 passengers were affected yesterday and more on Sunday.
“The safety and welfare of our passengers comes first so we arranged with the relevant airlines to transport passengers to and from Port Elizabeth.”
She said the runway could remain closed until Friday as the weather office predicted between 30% and 60% chance of rain until then.
The DA has, meanwhile, asked for answers from government regarding CAA’s ruling. George MPL Marius Swart said he had sent a parliamentary question for the attention of Transport Minister Sbusiso Ndebele “to ask what he is going to do to urgently resolve the situation of a defunct airport in wet conditions, in view of the fact that three international soccer teams will shortly be staying in the area during the Fifa World Cup”.
The question will be tabled during question time in Parliament later this week.
Swart said he wanted answers because hundreds of people, including DA leader and Western Cape Premier Zille, had been unable to fly to or from George Airport since Sunday.
CAA communications manager Kabelo Ledwaba said the authority was still assessing all possible variables that might have contributed to the December Airlink accident.
“A friction test was performed again on February 15 and results indicated that the runway friction was within the prescribed limits.
“This presents a challenge when viewed against the fact that the data from the aircraft flight data recorder indicates that all systems appeared to have functioned normally (inclusive of the brakes and the anti-lock braking system) and the approach and landing profiles and speeds were within normal limits.”
Ledwaba said the cause of the accident had to be identified to prevent a similar accident occurring.
“The runway surface was found to have 46% of the recommended macro-texture depth of a new runway. This fact, together with a bitumen fog spray that was applied to the runway in November, before the first rain, is also under investigation.”
Acsa declined to comment on the report. “We hope to issue a statement soon,” said Acsa spokesman Colin Naidoo.
article by 2010/02/23 Cathy Dippnall - The Weekend Post
Terminal name changes at OR Tambo International Airport
Wednesday, March 31, 2009
Operational efficiency drives terminal name changes
O.R. Tambo International Airport has made the decision to follow the lead of other international airports and make the terminals multi-use such that terminals can be used to process both international and domestic flights interchangeably. The benefit of making the terminals multi-use will allow the airport to be more efficient in the use of existing infrastructure, thus minimizing the dependence on more construction of new buildings to create capacity.
Like other international airports with multi-use terminals, the international and domestic descriptors of the terminals will fall away at O.R. Tambo International Airport. There will still be two terminals, which will in future be known as Terminal A and Terminal B. Terminal A will extend from the Central Terminal Building(CTB) atrium to the north (previously the international terminal) and Terminal B will extend south (previously the domestic terminal).
For the foreseeable future the check-in counters in the existing international departures hall will continue to be used for international flights only, while the multi-use CTB departures facility will be used by both international and domestic airlines allowing those airlines with domestic and international flights to use the same check-in counters.
Airlines moving to Terminal B
At the beginning of April 2009 when the new multi use departures hall in Terminal B opens in the CTB some airlines serving international routes will move into the new facility.
Among them are those which will process both international and domestic passengers from the new facility. They include:
* SAA, Express and Airlink (which will process both international and domestic passengers from their counters)
* UM - Air Zimbabwe
* MD - Air Madagascar
* WB - Rwandair Express
* TC - Air Tanzania
* QF - Qantas
* CX - Cathay Pacific
* MS - Egypt Air
* MK - Air Mauritius
Implications for airport visitors
Visitors in future will have to know which terminal their airline of choice is operating from. Passengers should obtain this information at the time of booking their tickets. To assist them the airport will be putting up temporary signs that show which airlines operate out of each departure terminal.
Signage in and around the terminal will in the future no longer refer to domestic and international terminal. Signs will refer only to Terminal A or Terminal B.
Please assist visitors during this transition. For more information they can be directed to the iHelp agents wearing orange waistcoats located around the airport terminal.
Useful Links
Supporting the Environment
By giving our support to the following Organizations we help the community and its environment
- EWT - Endangered Wildlife Trust
- NCC - Nature Conservation Corporation
- Izzi Trust
Contact Us
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