Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations (CNFA) has questioned the integrity of Chris Brown, the chief executive officer of the Namibian Chamber of Environment.
This is after Brown gave the mining of marine phosphate in the ocean south-west of Walvis Bay the nod of approval.
He based his conclusion on the latest scoping report and public consultation by Namibia Marine Phosphates (NMP) on the project’s original environmental impact assessment (EIA).
CNFA chairman Matti Amukwa has asked why Brown has based his conclusion on a scoping report, which, he says, is done to determine what an EIA should consist of.
“An EIA has not been done for the land-based part of the proposed project yet, which is a legal requirement. Where is the transparency that should guide the process if an environmentalist who has been openly supporting and promoting phosphate mining also represents the NCE?” Amukwa asks.
He also questions the independent studies Brown based his conclusions on.
“What ‘independent studies as late as 2020’ is he referring to? Perhaps the studies we and others have been demanding to see, but were being told to wait?
“If Chris Brown was given access to these studies in preference to the general public, this shows he is no longer an independent party,” Amukwa says.
Amukwa is accusing Brown and the NCE of being out of touch with the rest of the world – especially countries which have rejected marine phosphate mining.
Namibia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Mexico and the Pacific islands are some of the countries where proposals for marine phosphate mining are currently under consideration.
New Zealand and Mexico have rejected phosphate mining on the basis that there is a lack of information to enable certainty on its impact on the environment.
Amukwa says the dredging site proposed for phosphate is in and near nursery areas of commercial fish species, which are protected areas and important to biomass health.
He says the jobs promised by phosphate mining are “nowhere near” the 60 000 direct, indirect and related jobs already existing thanks to the fishing industry.
“Yes, this is ‘all claws out’ time. Namibians are fighting for survival, and phosphate mining has no place here. CNFA joins the Social Justice Group and hundreds of thousands of Namibians in demanding a permanent cancellation of the unwise and nonsensical pursuit of marine phosphate mining,” Amukwa says.
Meanwhile, Brown said that Amukwa and the CNFA need to understand that there is no conflict between the fishing industry and the marine phosphate industry. According to him, the two sectors can work side by side without one impacting the other.
He added that an EIA report already exists.According to Brown, Amukwa should have engaged directly in the consultative process rather than via a fisheries consultant and he would hand known that this EIA is different to others.”I would encourage Mr Amukwa and the CNFA to engage with the EIA process, to understand the science and to keep an open mind so that Namibia’s development is not limited by the misinformation of preconceived ideas,” he said.According to the Namibia Marine Phosphate (NMP) environmental management plan, every effort should be made to ensure that negative impacts to the seabed due to dredging operations are kept to an absolute minimum. They proposed that any waste generated in the course of dredging activities will be managed in strict compliance with the provisions of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships Convention.
To protect marine life, NMP proposed to appoint a vessel-based environmental manager who will also monitor the affected area.
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