“This stage of the natural gas project should be completed by October, 2003, and will start supplying gas to Secunda between December and January, 2004”, said Elmore Marshall, director of the SASOL project. “The Temane-gas processing centre (CPF) lies at the heart of the project, and is costed at US$308 million”, Marshall said. He confirmed that the work on building the processing centre is running on schedule. At the CPF the gas, extracted from 18 boreholes, will be cleaned and compressed, before it is transferred into the 865-km long pipeline to Secunda. 551km of the line will be in Mozambique, where it will cross the Limpopo and Incomati rivers, before entering South Africa, near the Ressano Garcia border post. Over 200km of the pipeline have already been laid, and the construction teams are now operating in the area of Macarretane, in Gaza province. The gas will feed SASOL’s chemical industries. At Secunda, it will be processed into various chemical products, while a proportion will also be distributed for consumption in other South African provinces. The entire project is budgeted at $1.2 billion, and is expected to earn the South African government $3.2 billion in taxes, while Mozambique hopes to earn $2 billion in taxes and royalties during the 25 years of the project’s anticipated life. But despite all the optimism of the project’s authorities, the Mozambican workers are reported to be complaining of low wages, ill-treatment, and racism.