Timber iQ August - September 2017 // Issue: 33 | Page 60

REGULARS - TALKING TIMBER Conference ∙ Trade Expo Continued from page 56 23 – 24 August 2017 Cape Town International Convention Centre Conference ∙ Trade Expo The Western Cape’s largest building and construction show BOOK YOUR SPACE! Conference Trade Expo [email protected] Conference Trade Expo [phone] After five or six years, the supply is expected to be inadequate for demand. BENEFITS! PROMOTE your products or services to over 3 500 attendees PARTICIPATE in the Western Cape’s first ever Contractor’s Corner and meet over 1 000 contractors GENERATE hundreds of leads in just two days NETWORK with key industry stakeholders with purchasing power Dedicated zones for: Concrete Construction Digital Construction Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing Surfaces & Finishes Tools & Equipment Media partner: Government partner: www.cape-construction.co.za Supporting partner: "Forestry is a very labour- intensive process. If we can't supply the local demand, we will, in effect, be exporting forestry jobs to other countries." The best option, in our current situation, is to expand the area under plantations. “Forestry is a very labour-intensive process. If we can’t supply the local demand, we will, in effect, be exporting forestry jobs to other countries,” comments Dolphin Bay MD, Bertus Coetzee. “Jobs will also be lost in sawmilling, because sawn planks rather than the raw product will probably be imported, to avoid the inevitable losses of timber that occur during the sawmilling process. “Imported timber also costs more, making it more expensive to build a house, for example, which will affect the average South African’s prospects of owning a home. All these negative effects are the result of the authorities’ failure to plan and could be another self- inflected wound on the South African economy and on job creation. “We sincerely hope that the authorities are giving this issue the urgent attention it deserves,” adds Coetzee. 58 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2017 //