Cabinet phosphate meeting called off A special cabinet meeting that was to take place yesterday to discuss the environmental clearance for marine phosphate mining was cancelled.Cabinet secretary George Simataa told Namibian Sun that the meeting called by President Hage Geingob was cancelled because of environment minister Pohamba Shifeta''s decision last week to withdraw the environmental clearance.
“It was not necessary to hold the meeting because of this decision,” Simataa said.
The environmental commissioner, Teofilus Nghitila, issued an environmental clearance certificate to Namibian Marine Phosphate for its Sandpiper Project on 5 September.
That only came to light about a month later and sparked an uproar.
After the news broke, conflicting statements were made by the environment ministry and the fisheries ministry about the granting of the environmental clearance, while negative reports surfaced about offshore phosphate mining and the impact it may have on the environment, on marine life and the fishing sector.
Therefore it was decided to hold a special cabinet meeting to discuss the matter in detail.
However, last week Shifeta announced that the environmental clearance certificate would be withdrawn even though he felt that the correct procedures had been followed. He agreed that more consultation was needed.
Since then more allegations have been made that Nghitila had not followed the proper procedures, which he denied.
The fishing sector has filed a court application against the environmental clearance and also wants NMP''s mining licence illegal.
NMP, on the other hand, has threatened unspecified steps “to protect is investment and reputation”.
ELLANIE SMIT
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