PEOPLE at Lüderitz plan to stage a demonstration today to protest against the transformation of the Sperrgebiet diamond-mining area into a national park.
The march, spearheaded by the Paradise Inhabitants Development Association (PIDA), is set to start at the State Hospital at 13h00. The protesters plan to hand over at a petition at the regional councillor’s office and Namdeb’s Lüderitz office. PIDA Chairman Jacobus Johannes Le Hanie yesterday told The Namibian that residents are unhappy because they were sidelined during negotiations to have the Sperrgebiet declared a national park, although they were affected by the Sperrgebiet ordinance. He said turning the once forbidden area into a park would not benefit the local people because all prospective tourism gains have been earmarked for ‘the elite’. ‘We don’t want Lüderitz to become another ghost town,’ Le Hanie said. The Minister of Environment and Tourism, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, is expected to inaugurate the Sperrgebiet National Park on February 6.
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