Swamp halts Africa's parliament

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Building has been halted on new Pan-African Parliament in South Africa after officials realised the site was a wetland area which needed preserving.

Media reports had suggested work was stopped over fears the building would sink into the bog, but the project director told the BBC this was not so.

The government is trying to preserve unique habitats such as swamps.

Work on the building started in May and was due to be finished a few weeks before the 2010 football World Cup.

The parliament, set up five years ago by the African Union, was scheduled to move into its permanent premises in Midrand - a town between Pretoria and Johannesburg - next year.

The wetland is thought to be part of a catchment area for the Hennops River, which runs through parts of the capital, Pretoria, and Johannesburg.

An expert who examined the land before work on the site began attributed the dampness of the soil to a burst water pipe in the area.

We are pleased that the wetland was discovered before more damage was done to the area. Project director Makude Kakana

But Makude Kekana, who is overseeing the project for South Africa's Department of Public Works, said the wetland was discovered three months into construction work.

"As the digging progressed we got information that we may be digging on a wetland, we then made the necessary consultations," he said.

A panel of experts was called in and duly confirmed a wetland on the construction site.

He said his department was now in consultation with engineers about ways to incorporate the wetland into the building's design.

He added that they were hoping to preserve what is left of the land.

"We are pleased that the wetland was discovered before more damage was done to the area," he told the BBC.

Mr Kekana rejected newspaper reports that the building would have flooded after as little as 20mm of rain because of the swamp.

"The drainage system which we would have put in place during construction would have prevented flooding," he said.