The ‘Holland Water Wall’ on the Netherlands Consulate General building was officially launched by the Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman Dan Plato on Thursday, 10 March 2001.
Other high level guests included WISA Western Province Chairman, Rashid Khan, UN officials, City of Cape Town Alderman Clive Justus and the well-known surf reporter, Deon Bing who joined the party in order to catch the ‘biggest wave in the heart of the City’ on his famous board ’Brunhilde’.
In his introduction Netherlands Consul General, David de Waal mentioned that the ‘Water Wall’ had three goals: Firstly ‘awareness’ by which he meant that water is often taken for granted by most however it is fast becoming an increasingly rare commodity because of the rapid urbanization of the cities, increasing numbers of tourists and industrialization. Secondly the wall focuses the attention on the upcoming National Water Week which is to take place in the mother city from 21 to 17 March 2011 culminating in the UN World Water Day on 22 March. Cape Town will be the World Water capital on that day. His Royal Highness, Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands will be attending the water deliberations in his capacity as Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Water and Sanitation. Finally the Consul General mentioned that the Dutch water sector companies are interested in working together with South African partners in the water sector by sharing the knowledge that they have built up through the centuries in the field of water management and technology. Likewise they would be interested in South African experiences and technology in the field of water.
Source: http://southafrica.nlembassy.org
