Labour research expert Hebert Jauch, has criticized Namibia Marine Phosphate (NMP) for taking advantage of the Covid-19 induced economic melt-down to make a case for marine phosphate mining in Namibia.
This came as the company yesterday held a zoom meeting where it said hopes were high that the project will take off despite backlash and what has been considered to be environmental health hazards for marine ecosystems.
The company said N$750 million has been used in preparation so far.
For 600 jobs advertised, 4000Namibians have applied.
Given the dire economic straits the country finds itself marooned on and the falling employment numbers, will the government give in to the project which envisages creating dozens of jobs?
Jauch said to use the current economic situation and support the project would be opportunistic of the company.
“They have this argument that a company like Namibia Marine Phosphate Mining has put forward, which of course is an opportunistic move by them but not surprising. They have been out in the cold because the dangers of marine phosphate mining have really been proven and shown internationally.
“And also, in the Namibian particular case the enormous dangers for the whole fishing industry as a whole, posed by this venture, are enormous. So, when one looks at the relatively small number of jobs this venture creates, and the danger for the whole fishing industry, that the resource is enormous and does not belong to the government of Namibia but to the people of Namibia,” he said.
Jauch said those that have applied for jobs at NMP have been driven to do so out of desperate times the country faces but the government should create jobs in other sectors to suck this number.
Hebert Jauch criticizes ‘opportunistic NMP’
