Update - Diver Permits
Message posted on the SA Scuba Mailing List
SA Scuba Mailing list! - http://lists.stormnet.co.za/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=scuba---
Hi all
I just thought I’d give everyone some feedback regarding the meeting we had with the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk, on Monday 21 August. The meeting was arranged through Mr Marius Swart of the DA. The Minister invited us to send three people, at our request this was increased to four. Those present were Monty Guest, Juan Pereira, Sarah Carter and myself. We used Underwater Africa as a common banner for our efforts. The Minister was only able to allocate us 30 minutes of his time, but we were able to get some good discussions in the limited time.
The meeting was conducted in a very friendly atmosphere. The Minister’s team included two representatives from MCM and a member of the Minister’s staff. I’ve previously met with Ministers in other sectors, and had not been impressed with the results. Ministers usually tried to avoid issues, and tended to deflect questions to their subordinates wherever possible. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Minister had read our discussion document, and appeared to have a good understanding of the issues.
I’ll start with the bad news, and that is that the Government appears unmoving on the basic concept of permits. The individual permit fee of R70 per diver per annum has been approved by the Minister of Finance, and will probably be compulsory from 1 January 2007. The Minister made it clear that the Government was “strongly committed” to this permit.
The Minister did acknowledge our concerns on the operator permit. We had pointed out that the operator permit could become a barrier to new entrants, and lead to increased costs as operators would be forced to pass their permit costs on to their customers. The Minister referred to this as a “multiplier effect”. He made it clear that they realised the operator permit problems, and that they were prepared to consider alternatives where the “multiplier effect” could be minimised or eliminated. I believe that this is very positive, as it means that the actual permit cost is visible up-front. It also does offer us some protection against price increases, since MCM are already acutely aware of the paradox that a fishing (consumptive) permit costs as much as a diving (non-consumptive) permit.
The Minister committed his Department to continued meetings with stakeholders. We have recently (Friday) received a response from MCM to our discussion document. A follow-up meeting with MCM will be held to continue the discussion process. Again, I felt that this was positive. In early attempts we were simply ignored, even when we submitted formal requests in terms of PAJA or PROATIA. Now we are able to each put forward arguments and debate them in meetings. Dr Boyd and his colleagues are taking the time to respond to our concerns.
We also raised the issue of Tour Guide registration. The Minister acknowledged that the situation was convoluted, and asked what solution we would propose. We pointed out that dive leaders were trained to internationally accepted standards, and affiliated to controlling agencies. Tour guide training thus seemed redundant. The Minister acknowledged this as a valid argument. He gave us the assurance that any requirement for dive leaders to register as Tour Guides would only take place after meetings with all the relevant stakeholders.
I have communicated this to Andy Cobb, Andy has already replied to say that my comments did not relate to Tour Guides.
My overall feeling of the meeting was that it was positive. The Minister was clearly aware of the issues. In hindsight our omission was that we didn’t emphasise the lack of protection actually offered by the MPA. As concerned divers, we would like to see the area genuinely protected. If we consider the effects of fishing, pollution, shark nets etc then perhaps we have allowed ourselves to become sidetracked. We mustn’t lose sight of the fact that we ultimately would like the environment protected.
If I have skipped anything, perhaps Monty, Sarah or Juan can fill in some extra detail.
A big “thank you” must go to all those who helped make this meeting happen. The meeting, and the show stand, were only possible because of the support of the diving community. The donations to Underwater Africa helped pay for airfares and other costs, and the positive input that we received from the public at the show certainly motivated us all. Thanks.
Safe diving
Mike
SA Scuba Mailing list! - http://lists.stormnet.co.za/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=scuba---
Hi all
I just thought I’d give everyone some feedback regarding the meeting we had with the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk, on Monday 21 August. The meeting was arranged through Mr Marius Swart of the DA. The Minister invited us to send three people, at our request this was increased to four. Those present were Monty Guest, Juan Pereira, Sarah Carter and myself. We used Underwater Africa as a common banner for our efforts. The Minister was only able to allocate us 30 minutes of his time, but we were able to get some good discussions in the limited time.
The meeting was conducted in a very friendly atmosphere. The Minister’s team included two representatives from MCM and a member of the Minister’s staff. I’ve previously met with Ministers in other sectors, and had not been impressed with the results. Ministers usually tried to avoid issues, and tended to deflect questions to their subordinates wherever possible. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Minister had read our discussion document, and appeared to have a good understanding of the issues.
I’ll start with the bad news, and that is that the Government appears unmoving on the basic concept of permits. The individual permit fee of R70 per diver per annum has been approved by the Minister of Finance, and will probably be compulsory from 1 January 2007. The Minister made it clear that the Government was “strongly committed” to this permit.
The Minister did acknowledge our concerns on the operator permit. We had pointed out that the operator permit could become a barrier to new entrants, and lead to increased costs as operators would be forced to pass their permit costs on to their customers. The Minister referred to this as a “multiplier effect”. He made it clear that they realised the operator permit problems, and that they were prepared to consider alternatives where the “multiplier effect” could be minimised or eliminated. I believe that this is very positive, as it means that the actual permit cost is visible up-front. It also does offer us some protection against price increases, since MCM are already acutely aware of the paradox that a fishing (consumptive) permit costs as much as a diving (non-consumptive) permit.
The Minister committed his Department to continued meetings with stakeholders. We have recently (Friday) received a response from MCM to our discussion document. A follow-up meeting with MCM will be held to continue the discussion process. Again, I felt that this was positive. In early attempts we were simply ignored, even when we submitted formal requests in terms of PAJA or PROATIA. Now we are able to each put forward arguments and debate them in meetings. Dr Boyd and his colleagues are taking the time to respond to our concerns.
We also raised the issue of Tour Guide registration. The Minister acknowledged that the situation was convoluted, and asked what solution we would propose. We pointed out that dive leaders were trained to internationally accepted standards, and affiliated to controlling agencies. Tour guide training thus seemed redundant. The Minister acknowledged this as a valid argument. He gave us the assurance that any requirement for dive leaders to register as Tour Guides would only take place after meetings with all the relevant stakeholders.
I have communicated this to Andy Cobb, Andy has already replied to say that my comments did not relate to Tour Guides.
My overall feeling of the meeting was that it was positive. The Minister was clearly aware of the issues. In hindsight our omission was that we didn’t emphasise the lack of protection actually offered by the MPA. As concerned divers, we would like to see the area genuinely protected. If we consider the effects of fishing, pollution, shark nets etc then perhaps we have allowed ourselves to become sidetracked. We mustn’t lose sight of the fact that we ultimately would like the environment protected.
If I have skipped anything, perhaps Monty, Sarah or Juan can fill in some extra detail.
A big “thank you” must go to all those who helped make this meeting happen. The meeting, and the show stand, were only possible because of the support of the diving community. The donations to Underwater Africa helped pay for airfares and other costs, and the positive input that we received from the public at the show certainly motivated us all. Thanks.
Safe diving
Mike
posted by Benita Williams at 12:50 PM
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