Low turnout characterised the first day of TotalEnergies consultations with the Lüderitz’s community on Wednesday.
Across venues, attendance figures were disheartening, with one gathering drawing roughly 50 participants, and another barely managing to attract more than 15 individuals.
This lack of engagement has sparked discussion among residents regarding the effectiveness and relevance of the events.
Lüderitz deputy mayor Brigitte Fredericks says “what really contributes to the low attendance is awareness and invitations”.
“I am of the opinion that there is not enough awareness of these projects, secondly the way in which these meetings are advertised is not sufficient.
“I know we are moving with technology, but I don’t think social media adverts are enough.
Not everyone has a smartphone and those who do, do not always have data or Wi-Fi.
“In the past we put up notices and announcements were made in churches. It does not happen anymore.
That is my take on the low attendance of meetings and events,” she says.
Feedback from attendees indicated a common sentiment of dissatisfaction, with some expressing that the presentations did not provide sufficient information regarding the projects, associated risks, or benefits to the local community.
Jody Coetzee says the information he was interested in was not provided, so he “did not stay long”.
He estimates roughly 50 to 60 people attended the session held at the Lüderitz Waterfront conference room on Tuesday.
He says he wished for information on how the community would benefit from these projects, however, it was “just explanations of drilling processes, etc.”.
Ndapunikwa Heita says the session held at Lüderitz Secondary School was “quite informative”.
She adds they were informed around the “environmental aspects, job creation, social responsibility, oil extraction and drilling”.
However, Heita says the attendance was quite poor, as the session was mostly attended by teachers and a few pupils.
Lüderitz mayor Phil Balhao says: “It is a little disheartening, and is actually a bit of a trend where we have a lot of different engagements where the turnout is less than desirable.
“I think there’s a few things that might be to blame for it.
“If we look at the last census, the amount of people with smartphones and access to this information is actually minimal. We need to use other methods of promoting these events, such as television and radio.”
According to Balhao, events are often held during office hours and people cannot always attend.
He says the ‘elephant in the room’ is that many people feel there is no use in attending consultations, because they feel excluded.
The mayor wants to encourage residents to make use of consultation opportunities, “because networking and chatting at these events might just unlock a wonderful opportunity for yourself”.
The consultations started on Tuesday and will end tomorrow.
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