closure of waters, page-13

I live not far from the Coolangatta Airport, home of the controversial desalination plant. During the construction stage, a huge platform was anchored a couple of kilometres off the southern Gold Coast beaches for the construction of the intake and discharge component. Even those residents and visitors unaware of the desalination plant could not happen but notice this new addition to the seascape. It looked like an offshore oil well and was a constant reminder to anyone driving past, travelling by boat or landing at Coolangatta Airport that a major project was underway.

I expect that the Fugro Seacore platform anchored off Garden Island, will have a similar impact on residents and visitors.

With this visual reminder in place, the media will have something to focus their attention on. Public awareness should increase exponentially once the media grab hold of it.

Fund managers have understandably held off putting investors money into this untested technology. No one is under the illusion that the preconstruction stage is anything but high risk. A working model producing power and water will lower that risk substantially. When fund managers feel comfortable that the project is no longer high risk, investment will escalate.