Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform yesterday failed to explain how Canadian oil-exploration company ReconAfrica, which is currently drilling for oil in Kavango East and West regions, extracted water for its industrial operations without a permit.
The company is also accused of setting up operations without a leasehold. The company’s application for a leasehold right was submitted on 28 June this year only, the agriculture ministry says.
This information was revealed yesterday during a meeting between the parliamentary standing committee on natural resources and officials from the agriculture ministry.
The ministry admitted to not regularly monitoring ReconAfrica’s operations. The last time ministry officials visited the company’s sites was in June. ReconAfrica began drilling for oil in December last year already, but only got permission to extract water in June this year.
This is in violation of the law that states that anyone extracting water should first get a drilling permit. Ministry officials said when they visited one of the company’s sites in February to investigate, they were refused entry.
The officials didn’t attempt to go to the site the following day, but instead only went back four months later, which coincided with the issuing of the water permit.
Acting executive director of agriculture, water and land reform Penda Ithindi, acting deputy executive director Maria Amakali, and director of resettlement Alfred Sikopo yesterday failed to say why ReconAfrica was allowed to by-pass the law.
They admitted to failure, which angered the parliamentary committee. “What type of officials are you? How can we trust you? You are supposed to be the eyes and ears of the politicians. Do we have the right officials in place? Don’t come here with your ‘expensive’ language.
“Every month you are collecting your cheque. Just explain,” committee chairperson Tjekero Tweya said.
The agriculture ministry relies on ReconAfrica’s data, but the company has not established a monitoring strategy with an adequate monitoring network as requested by the ministry, Tweya said.
“How did you let a guest dictate to you? They have the money and technology, but we have the resources. How can you not be allowed entry into your own house? That should not happen.”
Tweya said ReconAfrica tried to prevent the committee from entering the company’s site earlier this year. “They asked for Covid-19 PCR tests. We told them they were playing games. They eventually let us in.”
The committee hinted at an element of bribery between ReconAfrica and government officials. “How was this allowed to happen? Are officials selling us? You are supposed to execute your mandate. The ministry has failed to carry out its mandate,” said Tweya.
Swanu member of parliament Tangeni Ijambo said there is a possibility that government officials were bribed. “If there is no timeline as a punitive measure, that’s how investors take advantage of Africa and reap the returns of countries and do as they wish. Otherwise, we will assume that some entities are paid under the table for this process to go on,” he said.
Amakali said the ministry gave ReconAfrica a month to comply, but could not explain why no punitive measures have been taken against the company. “We told them you can only start using those boreholes when you have the permits. They determined how fast they wanted to be using the water,” she said.
Ithindi admitted that the ministry had failed and promised to attend to the issues raised by the committee. The ministry said it has told ReconAfrica to apply for a drilling permit before drilling more boreholes.
ReconAfrica spokesperson Ndapewoshali Shapwanale yesterday said the company has all the necessary water permits in place for all 13 community water wells and the two operations water wells.
She said the ministry officials were not allowed onto their site, due to drilling activities taking place at the time. Visitors were prohibited to access certain areas in line with the company’s strict health and safety protocols.
Shapwanale said the committee was also initially refused entry because it was informed of mandatory Covid-19 testing before entering the site. She said the parliamentarians were given the option to get tested.
With regards to alleged bribery, Shapwanale said ReconAfrica’s approach to doing business is guided by international best governance practices, and Namibian and Canadian legislation.
“We have a strict anti-bribery procedure that does not allow for any unlawful activities, including bribery,” she said.
