Enviro ministry to punish illegal sand miners

THE environment ministry says it will have no mercy with people who are caught mining sand without proper authorisation.

Environmental commissioner Teofilus Nghitila told The Namibian yesterday that the ministry has noted with concern the increased and unabated cases of people mining sand for commercial purposes without environmental clearance certificates.

He said the activity destroys the landscape, mahangu fields and grazing land. “Our position is clear. That is a listed activity under the Environment Act 7/2007. A person cannot undertake the activity without obtaining an environmental clearance certificate,” he stated.

He said anyone who wants to mine sand should apply for the certificate, where they would be required to submit an environmental management plan, citing how they will refill or rehabilitate the resultant pit. He stressed that the ministry has already engaged other stakeholders to inform them about the importance of applying for the licence if they want to mine sand.

Nghitila said they held meetings with traditional authorities, local authorities and the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry regarding the matter.

“We wrote them a letter to inform them that their members are engaged in illegal activities,” he added.

He nonetheless noted that following the dissemination of information on illegal sand mining on platforms such as the NBC Oshiwambo radio service and community meetings in the past month, some commercial miners such as contractors have decided to follow the legal route, and are engaging the ministry on the way forward.

“However, there are still those who do not want to comply. They are now going out at night.”

Nghitila said those who are found guilty of the offence face 25 years imprisonment or a fine of N$500 000, or both.

“We will mete out punishment without fear, favour or prejudice,” he said, adding that they were getting reports from community members and local authorities about people who illegally mine sand in their areas.

“We are going to stop those who are mining the sand illegally.”

The Ondonga and Uukwambi areas of the Oshikoto and Omusati regions, respectively, have seen increased incidents of illegal sand mining at the hands of construction companies and individual businessmen who claim that they had paid fees to the Ondonga Traditional Authority.

Nghitila said the environment ministry is the only entity which can authorise the mining of sand by issuing a clearance licence, and any other body or individual, be it a traditional council or village headman, has no legal right to do so.