By: Hertha Ekandjo
The landless People’s movement has threatened to drag the government to court should it not stop the exploration of uranium in the Aminius constituency in the Omaheke region.
“LPM calls on the cancellation of the exploration and prospecting clearance certificate immediately,” said LPM’s human rights Joyce Muzengua.
Muzengua said this on Monday during an LPM press conference in Windhoek.
This follows the drilling of boreholes by Headspring Investments Project wings, a subsidiary of Uranium One and Rosatom, a Russian state-owned uranium exploration, mining and processing company.
LPM noted that on 8 September, they outlined the ‘hazardous’ implications of the uranium mining on the headspring aquifer.
“We wrote letters that will go out today, calling on solidarity from the international world and to our domestic political counterparts to supplement our efforts to bring the mining in the Omaheke to a halt,” said Muzengua.
According to her, the letter would go out to the EU, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Civil society movements such as the Environmental Justice movement, the president of the United States, the president of South Africa, the president of South Africa, president of Botswana and other relevant state holders.
LPM noted that after thorough consultations with the communities that inhabit the land on the aquifer, they resolved that they would take the matter to court should revoke these Exclusive Prospectus Licenses (ELP)s not take place.
Meanwhile, the environment commissioner Timoteus Mufeti said he was unaware of LPM’s threat to approach the courts.
“It has not been brought to our attention, but if there is such a threat, we will be dealing with it accordingly,” he said.
He said that the Uranium mining company was granted an exploring clearance certificate more than three years ago, adding that what was done was just a renewal of the certificate following the incompletion of the drilling of the boreholes.
“The environmental clearance certificate we have granted them is for them to complete the exploration. People need to understand that there is a difference between exploring and mining. I know that there is a concern about mining and the methodology that the company is proposing to mime that uranium if it is there and if they will take it to that face,” clarified Mufeti.
He added that they were not yet at the phase of mining uranium in that area, but they were exploring instead.
According to him, if they were to start mining uranium in the area, they would require a complete Environmental Impact assessment, review and a new clearance certificate.
Moreover, the commissioner stated that the drilling happening in the area was a normal type of drilling and had no effect on the community living there or on the ground.
In August, LPM leader Bernadus Swartbooi said mining uranium in the Kalahari basin could break bonds between Namibia and other SADC countries.
“Below it is lake formation where the water flows freely from north to south and pollution of the water resource at one end would mean pollution of the entire water resource in the Kalahari basin,” he said.
According to Swartbooi, water pollution in the Kalahari basin would have much further negative effect as water flows into the orange river and some areas into the Botswana water system polluting their water systems as well.
Moreover, he noted that the chemicals used during the extraction of uranium, which consists of sulfuric acid and ammonium carbonate, have detrimental effects on the environment and would be the end of all the practices taking place in the area.
Earlier this year, the Aminius constituency councillor, Peter Kazongominja, joined his community to denounce uranium mining prospects in the area.
Kazongominja, at that time, said while the project had been going on for almost two years, there were no significant talks between his office and the exploration entities.
At that time, Kazongominja said his office had been inundated with complaints by members of the community over exploration activities.
