The executive director of the Kruger National Park Dr Bandile Mkhize officially received a purpose-built gas delivery truck from TotalGaz managing director Hugo De Meyer on Tuesday January 30, 2007. "The truck is equipped with fire extinguishers and various other safety features that will be able to handle any emergency.
We can, with confidence, assure everyone that it is safe and that it meets all the relevant safety requirements to transport hazardous chemicals. I am sure everyone from our guests to our personnel will be pleased to hear that," said Dr Mkhize. The truck, a four tonne Nissan Cabstar diesel, will be used to deliver gas bottles throughout the entire park.
The Kruger National Park will only be responsible for the maintenance and the basic running costs of the truck, translating into a saving in the region of R8 000 per month. "As the managing director of TotalGaz, I feel privileged to personally attend and contribute to the polishing of this jewel (KNP) by donating a four tonne Nissan Cabstar for the specific use of gas deliveries within the park," said Hugo De Meyer.
TotalGaz has recently been awarded the contract to deliver gas to the Kruger National Park for the next five years. "It has always been a dream for me to be able to partner with the Kruger National Park, which was always described to me as a kid as the jewel of Africa's treasure chest.
It took three years of hard work for us to have formed part of the tendering process and we thank the management of the Kruger National Park for awarding us the tender to supply gas for the next five years.
During this five-year period, TotalGaz will not only be supplying gas to the park, but commit ourselves to training, educating and assisting the gas users within this community about the safe use of gas, as well as getting involved in the upliftment of the local community.
"The Kruger National Park is also forming part of our sustainable strategic plan, as us taking part at improving the ecology of this richly diversified environment," De Meyer concluded.
"We are sure that the Kruger National Park and TotalGaz will have a 'gas' together during this period and we are looking forward to this public-private partnership with enthusiasm," concluded Dr Mkhize. Gas stoves and ovens are used in all the restaurant kitchens and staff homes in the Kruger National Park.
Getting To Grips With Writing Science
By Michele Hofmeyr
Publish or perish - so the saying goes in scientific circles. The work that researchers do in their fields of expertise needs to be read by people in the scientific community, so that new information and ideas can be circulated. But scientists and researchers seldom have time to get to the details of writing scientific papers.
Putting pen to paper and enticing your peers and others to actually read your write-ups were some of the valuable guidelines given by Dr Peter Ashton from the Aquatic Ecosystems Research Group of the CSIR, to Kruger's scientists and researchers at a workshop held earlier this month. Having produced many scientific papers and reports himself, Peter Ashton took the group through a series of modules on how to structure a scientific paper, how to present data and finally submitting the paper to a suitable scientific journal.
This course was of particular use to the junior scientists, sponsored by the Andrew Mellon Foundation, who are still developing their careers in the fields of natural science, conservation and ecology.
These junior scientists are mentored by experienced Kruger staff who also provide necessary support and assistance.And, as everyone may agree, it's never too late to get started, so researchers will be dusting off their data and getting to grips with publishing their valuable work for the progress of scientific knowledge.
