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NEWS ÜVERVIEW
UnderstandingWorld Events and Trends
Tunnel
to Trouble?
A
year from now the
largest civil engineering
project of !he 20th century
could well be under way.
The go-ahead for
constructing of lwin
31-mile-long railroad
tunnels-131 feet beneath
!he seabed of !he English
Channel-was received
earlier lhis year. On January
20 in Lille, France, French
Presiden! Mitterrand and
British Prime Minister
Thalcher announced
approval of the winning
design for a fixed link.
The following month, in
Brilain's Canterbury
Cathedral, !he two leaders
signed a treaty permitting
!he project lo begin. Mr.
Mitterrand reminded the
audience that Napoleon
had dreamed of a tunnel
two centurias ago.
Although financed
by prívate capital,
:;:
~
approval of bolh
i
governments was
o
required.
~
Plans call for !he
Locust Plague
in South Africa
. ter tour years of
M disastrous drought,
domestic political unrest and
increasing world isolation,
observers might wonder
what else could bese! the
Republic of South Africa.
July/ Auguat 1986
tunnels lo be used by
conventional freight and
passenger trains, as well as
special rail shuttle cars lhat
will carry autos and other
vehicles, portal-lo-portal.
For !he Brilish government
the project is portrayed as
evidence of Britain's
commitment lo Europe.
Shorn of empire, Britain
sees its future tied more to
Now South Africans mus!
add locusts lo their many
afflictions. Moving in swarms
of up lo 5 kilometers (about
3 miles) long and 2
kilometers (1 .2 miles) wide,
!he locusts have cut a swath
of destruction over nearly
400 square kilometers (1 60
square miles) of
drought-stricken farmland.
the Continent, especially to
!he expanding economic
power of the Common
Market. More than half of its
foreign trade is now
conducted with Europe.
The affected areas are in
northern and eastern Cape
Province, central and
southern Orange Free State
and western Transvaal.
Sources label the locust
plague Soulh Africa's worst
since 1925. Many farmers,
already in bad shape after
years of drought and
soaring debl, are facing
No! everyone in Britain is
happy with the "Chunnel "
decision. "For a nation that
once believed it was set
apart from continental
Europe by sorne divine
right ," reported a Reuters
dispatch, the impact of a
fixed link is profound. British
history has been uniquely
shaped by !he Channel
" moat. " lis waters kept
potential invaders al bay.
1
was Britain's fear of
losing its defensiva wall !ha!
sealed !he tate of !he first
attempt lo bore a rail tunnel
in 1883. An expert in
railways al that period
wrote: ''There is !he feeling
in many breasts !ha! ... !he
stormy bulwark God has
placed around the coast
should no! be undermined."
This feeling still persists.
In a letter lo a British
newspaper, a reader wrote:
"lf God had mean! there lo
be a ' fixed link', He would
have provided a causeway."
Nonetheless, barring
unforeseen circumstances,
!he Channel tunnel should
be in operation by 1993.
After that-a new, uncertain,
chapter in British history. •
another desperate year.
Commented a farmer in
northern Transvaal lo an
American newspaper
executive: "ll's the worst
drought in 200 years .. .
1
think lhings would never
have developed lo this
extent if it wasn't [forl the
feeling that somehow God
has lefl South Africa." •
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