By: Justicia Shipena
Residents of Oneeya village are concerned about alleged illegal sand mining activities in the village, which according to them, are affecting their livelihoods.
Oneeya is located in the Omusati region in Ogongo constituency, about 12 km from Oskikuku.
The alleged illegal sand mining aroused after the construction of the Okeeke-Oneeya gravel road in 2018-2019, sources have told EagelFM.
According to the residents, this immediately turned into a business opportunity for a few individuals and is now happening at an alarming rate.
They cried that the excavation has left a permanent and irreversible scar where even trees with exposed roots were left to fall.
A concerned resident who spoke on conditions of anonymity said since 2020 until January 2022, excavation for business purposes has been happening in a borrow pit.
This said borrow pit is said to be approximately 133 meters wide and is situated 60 meters from a cemetery and 70 meters from fences of active crop fields, and it is about 100 meters away from a school and a church.
“Animal grazing and a strategic pathway to other villages, especially during the rainy season, are also affected,” said the resident.
She fears the borrow pit may extend into the cemetery and water pipping of residents.
“In the next few years, we might see the bones of our families buried there. We want this to stop before the damage gets worse,” she said.
Another resident, Arona Amaambo, is also worried about the negative impacts of the barrow pit.
“It affected us badly. We wonder what will happen after a few years since they are not stopping and the sand mining is close to the graveyard. We don’t know where to extend our cemetery after a few years,” he said.
Meanwhile, Albert Ndahalele, a pastor at the Roman Catholic Church, which is situated 100 m from the borrow pit, says the community is not comfortable with the sand mining activities, adding that they never benefit from such activities.
“The sand mining is just done behind my field. It is not good, and we are not comfortable as the community,” said Ndahalele.
Ndahalele said he tried several times to speak to the Uukwambi Traditional Authority through the village headman.
“I would recommend it to stop. We did not benefit from anything. I tried to talk to Uukwambi traditional authority through our village headmen several times so that they could compensate us as villagers. We are in danger now.”
ATTEMPTS TO ADDRESS THE MATTER FAILS
A letter dated 13 June 2022 addressed to the environmental commissioner at the ministry of environment seeks to stop sand mining activities.
The letter states that the residents had called on environment ministry officials to inspect and brief the residents about the borrow pit and concerns raised from 10 to 14 January 2022.
The residents said they had also invited the Uukwambi Traditional Authority. However, they said the authority never showed up.
“We believe that he (Kalimba) is making deliberate delay tactics to either not come to Oneeya village and meet with the residents as he promised in January,” it reads.
According to the letter, on 25 April 2022, the residents communicated with Laimi Erckie, an environmental ministry Ongwediva branch official responsible for overlooking the environmental activities in Omusati Region. At this time, they requested an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and management plan done at Oneeya.
“Due to the document unavailability at Ongwediva, directives were given to contact Josafat Hiwana of the Windhoek MEFT main office to assist in providing such documents. Josafat’s effort to retrieve the mentioned documents failed due to the certificate number’s unavailability because of the manual filing that was in the MEFT back in the day.”
The letter in possession of The Villager reads that the Uukwambi Traditional Authority officials could also not find the EIA and management plan in its files.
“On 28 April 2022, Josafat provided the contact number of Mr Shipandeni, the environmental consultant responsible for the EIA report to obtain the clearance certificate to authorize sand mining activity in 2018 in the Oneeya village,” it reads.
“A very shocking yet satisfying response from the consultant was that, due to the conditions stated in the Environmental Management Act of 2007, no clearance certificate was issued for the Oneeya borrow pit, Due to the fact that its geographic position is not fit for such activities.”
The spokesperson of the Uukwambi Traditional Authority, Kalimba Ofitukuti, said that the residents should wait to be called for a meeting.
He added that the residents don’t have the authority to block the barrow pit.
“We told them to wait, so we call them for a meeting. They should not say we don’t care about them. We don’t even know who gave them the authority to block the pathway to the borrow pit, and they also don’t have the authority to do so,” he lamented.
Ofitukuti claims that the concerned residents don’t have respect.
“We will tell them when we can meet because we have a lot on our plate, and they should not force us like that. They should carry themselves in a respectful manner.”
He said there has only been ‘sunny’ who has been mining for sand but has stopped long ago.
“It was only two times that money was paid for this sand mining activity. There is only sunny what what…but he stopped a long time, no one goes there to take sand anymore,” he argues.
ECC EXPIRED IN MARCH – MEFT
When The Villager reached out to the environment minister Pohamba Shifeta, he said he was unaware of the activities in Oneeya; however, he referred the paper to the environmental commissioner.
“I am not aware, and I only deal with appeals. If it is not an appeal, I cannot listen to it, but the environmental commissioner will do it. He will know if an environmental clearance certificate, whether they are working according to a management plan, and if the environmental certificate is given,” Shifeta said.
Moreover, environmental commissioner Timoteus Mufeti on the letter written to him by the residents, said they would be a letter, but he receives so many letters. Mufeti could not confirm whether he had received the letter or not.
According to him, an assessment must be done before the ministry grants any environmental clearance certificate (ECC), including a borrow pit.
“For the case of the the borrow pit, we made it easier for traditional authorities. We have a questionnaire that answers all issues that should be addressed by assessment,” he said.
Mufeti said he is aware that an ECC was provided for Oneeya, and it followed the correct procedures when it was issued.
However, he revealed that the said ECC has expired and that no activities should occur.
“It is not active, and there must be no activities on that site. My officials just informed me that ECC has expired sometime in March. In that case, what needs to be done is that the traditional authority should reapply for renewal,” he explains.
Furthermore, he said in the case of Oneeya, the ministry has been aware that the community is not happy.
“I think the borrow pit was at a bad location, and those are the issues we will look at before we renew. But as we speak now, we have not received any application for renewal from Uukambi traditional authority.”
Additionally, Mufeti said officials of the ministry on the ground visited the site a few weeks ago and observed that no activities were taking place.
“In case there are illegal activities taking place, what we do is that we order the person who holds the ECC. In this case, it is the Uukwambi Traditional Authority to stop those illegal activities,” he adds.
Mufeti said this would be done in the form of a compliance order.
A compliance order is a legal order provided by the environmental management act.
“If you don’t comply with that order, you are subjected to protection or charges,” he concludes.
In this vein, the residents demand that the ministry declare this sand mining activity illegal at Oneeya, stating that there should be a written document prohibiting the continuous removal of sand for business purposes. They said this document should be issued to the Uukwambi Traditional Authority and Oneeya village Headmen.
“To issue the Uukwambi traditional authority with an instruction to enforce the filling up of the newly excavated pit on the side as it is more dangerous because it is not sloppy, and that is where a big mopane tree is left to fall.”
Due to the absence of a management plan, the residents demand a constant inspection by the environment ministry officials.
