'Shifeta had no choice' The legal action taken after environmental clearance was granted for marine phosphate mining will not be withdrawn, while commentators say there is still a long way to go to make sure phosphate mining is not allowed in Namibia. This was confirmed yesterday by the chairman of the Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations, Matti Amukwa, who spoke to Namibian Sun after the decision by the minister of environment and tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, to set aside the environmental clearance certificate that had been issued to Namibian Marine Phosphate.
The environmental clearance was issued by environmental commissioner, Teofilus Nghitila, for NMP''s proposed Sandpiper Project located about 120 km southwest of Walvis Bay.
The granting of the environmental clearance caused a public furore. The fishing industry in particular said it was not given an opportunity to make submissions.
Amukwa told Namibian Sun even though the environmental clearance was set aside there are too many questions that remain unanswered and therefore they will continue with the court challenge.
The application that was filed in the High Court this week did not only seek for the environmental clearance certificate to be declared illegal, but also wants NMP''s mining licence declared unlawful because it has apparently expired.
The legal action was launched by the Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations, the Namibian Hake Association, the Midwater Trawling Association of Namibia and Omuala Fishing.
The application will be heard on 29 November.
“We have been preaching from the start that things should be done the right way the first time around,” Amukwa said.
Asked whether the confederation considered the withdrawal of the certificate as a step in the right direction, he said: “The minister did not have a choice. There were many flaws.”
He said he could not comment on the fact that the fisheries ministry was blamed for not giving feedback to the environmental commissioner on the final report.
“It is not good to play a blame game,” Amukwa said.
He said they would wait for the High Court to pronounce itself on the application.
The chairperson of the Economic and Social Justice Trust (ESJT), Herbert Jauch, welcomed the decision by the environment minister to grant more time to consider the possible dangers associated with marine phosphate mining.
“We believe that further consultations must lead to the rejection of the mining application,” Jauch commented.
The trust had also called for the environmental clearance to be revoked.
Jauch said the trust was not certain whether all the procedures were followed as outlined by the environment minister.
“Other versions were presented by other stakeholders and thus it is critical to very carefully consider the implications of marine phosphate mining. The available evidence clearly suggests that such mining would have devastating and long-lasting negative effects on the marine ecosystem and the fisheries sector. Thus we want phosphate mining to be prevented.”
Jauch added that the blame game between the ministries of environment and fisheries must not deflect from the bigger picture, which is the potentially huge damage phosphate mining could cause Namibia and the marine ecosystem.
He said the phosphate mining case is a critical example of how the country deals with its natural resources.
“It pits short-term, profit-driven interests against long-term economic and ecological sustainability.”
According to the trust they are encouraged that various organisations and individuals, including the founding president, have taken a clear stance against phosphate mining.
Jauch said the trust is also encouraged that the environment minister was willing to consider the bigger picture and did not just base his decision on legal arguments.
“However, there is no doubt that there is still a long way to go to ensure that phosphate mining will not be undertaken in Namibia. All parties involved and opposed to it must remain vigilant.”
Local businessman Knowledge Katti is a minority shareholder in the phosphate mining project spearheaded by Omani tycoon Mohammed Al Barwani through his company Mawarid Mining LLC, which owns 85% of NMP. Katti''s Havana Investments owns the remaining 15% stake in NMP.
Questions sent to NMP remained unanswered.
However in a recent statement the company said that since 2008 shareholders had invested more than N$780 million on the development of the exploration and mining licences issued by the government.