THE ministry of environment says the Katima Mulilo dumpsite is illegal as the council was not issued with an environmental clearance certificate.
The Katima Mulilo Town Council has finally moved away from using the old dumping site situated north-west of the town and affecting places such as the University of Namibia’s Katima Mulilo campus, Zambezi Vocational Training Centre (ZVTC) and Macaravan informal settlement in the area, which are located very close to it.
“They have applied for the environmental clearance certificate, but no approval was given yet. So, if the rumours are true that the town council has started to use this site, it is illegal to do so without the environmental clearance certificate,” the environment ministry’s spokesperson Romeo Muyunda, told The Namibian yesterday.
Katima Mulilo Town Council spokesperson Pasval Elijah told The Namibian on Tuesday that they recently closed the old dumpsite following an order from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism due to the health risk associated with the site.
“Due to the urgency of the site and the imminent disaster that the old dumpsite was causing, a temporary site was identified by council behind the Puma Service Station, about 500 metres from the tarred road, and was approved by the Office of the Environmental Commissioner for immediate use whilst council conducts a scoping study with the Namibia University of Science and Technology. This study will be published for objections, and be submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to obtain an environmental clearance certificate (ECC),” she explained.
Council stopped the refuse collection on Tuesday to maintain the site and upgrade the access road to the dumping site.
“Security forces will be attached to the site to make sure that refuse is dumped in a hygienic manner and does not affect the community in any way, and council will fence off the site for security purposes. Consultations and engagements with members of the community through suburb chairpersons, the business community and individuals within the vicinity of that area are still ongoing with Nust, who are currently on the ground,” the spokesperson added.
Efforts to get comment from environmental commissioner Teofilus Nghitila were unsuccessful as calls and messages sent to his phone were not answered.
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