Biofuel project not yet off the ground

THE main shareholder in Kavango Bioenergy Ltd and Prime Investment Holdings has not invested N$3 billion to establish a jatropha biofuel project in the Kavango Region.

Gustav de Waal told The Namibian from South Africa yesterday that no such investment was made. “We have not invested N$3 billion.We have only initiated a project,” said De Waal.He said they have not decided whether to go ahead with the project or not.De Waal was reacting to a report under the heading ‘Billion-dollar biofuel production in pipeline’ published in The Namibian last week, which stated that such an investment had been made.He confirmed that the company held environmental impact assessment meetings in October last year in five tribal authorities in Kavango and in Windhoek to give people the chance to air their environmental concerns.The report was from the website of the news agency AllAfrica.com, which quoted the local daily New Era as saying that Kavango Bioenergy Ltd from England had invested that amount in the project, which will be executed by Prime Investment Holdings in Namibia.De Waal is the controlling shareholder in both Kavango Bioenergy and Prime Investment Holdings.”We have not invested N$3 billion.We have only initiated a project,” said De Waal.He said they have not decided whether to go ahead with the project or not.De Waal was reacting to a report under the heading ‘Billion-dollar biofuel production in pipeline’ published in The Namibian last week, which stated that such an investment had been made.He confirmed that the company held environmental impact assessment meetings in October last year in five tribal authorities in Kavango and in Windhoek to give people the chance to air their environmental concerns.The report was from the website of the news agency AllAfrica.com, which quoted the local daily New Era as saying that Kavango Bioenergy Ltd from England had invested that amount in the project, which will be executed by Prime Investment Holdings in Namibia.De Waal is the controlling shareholder in both Kavango Bioenergy and Prime Investment Holdings.