The South African publication, NOSEWEEK, devoted an extensive article on the issue of marine phosphate mining in its May 2015 edition. A copy is attached.
For Namibians these two sentences sound familiar:
• “Against all expert advice and international best practice and with close to zero public scrutiny the Department of Mineral Resources [in S.A.] has given the go-ahead for phosphate prospectors to drill holes all over the West Coast’s most sensitive marine habitats and riches fishing grounds”.
• “No other government has been reckless, greedy or stupid enough to allow the large-scale destruction of its marine ecosystem by mining companies chasing a fast-buck from the global fertilizer squeeze”.
Other pertinent points are underlined in the attached.
Namibians have heard most of them already. But, maybe they will have a greater impact in the quarters where they are supposed to count now that they are being made by others who also see red flags all the way.
What is most revealing is the statement that the WWF [World Wide Fund for Nature] has “commissioned the not-for-profit law clinic, the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) to work on a legal and, if necessary, constitutional case for a moratorium”.
Swakopmund Matters (For Swakopmund Matters the environment of the Namibian coastline and its ocean matters)
