Africa-Press – Namibia. The environment ministry recently held stakeholder consultations on the Environmental Management Bill in the southern town of Keetmanshoop.
Explaining the purpose of their visit, chief environmental inspector Josafat Hiwana said the consultations will promote sustainable management of the environment and the use of natural resource. It will also establish principles for environmental management and provide for assessment and control of activities which may have significant environmental impacts on the environment.
Referring to challenges experienced in the implementation by both the regulator and the public, he mentioned a lack of provision for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) undertaken for policies, plans and programmes; limited guidance and procedures for the issuance of fines for non-compliance; a lack of provision to regulate environmental impact assessment practitioners; and insufficient focus on compliance, enforcement and monitoring of the Environmental Management Plan.
Hiwana then emphasised that these proposed amendments will provide for the declaration of areas as environmentally protected areas, protection of coastal areas, climate change adaptation measures, protection of the ozone layer, management of environmental emergencies, environmental impact assessment for clusters and industrial zones and the provision of financial guarantees for environmental rehabilitation, restoration and offset measures.
In terms of sand-and-gravel mining, senior conservation scientist Billy Kazonganga raised the concern of the ministry continuing to observe an unprecedented scale of sand mining in Namibia. “This activity caused serious destruction to the environment and loss of livelihoods to some communities and has, in addition, affected some developmental projects, with lives being lost, especially children playing in unrehabilitated borrow pits; hence, our reasons to enforce strict compliance,’’ he emphasised.
The scientist continued that “The office of the environmental commissioner, with support from other law enforcement agencies, has in the meantime managed to close off a number of illegal sites where sand mining activities were being carried out.”
He elaborated that this position has been arrived at following a national outcry and a number of complaints and conflicts related to how sand and gravel extraction activities are being managed nationwide.
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