…as 75% environmental clearance certificates are issued
A total of 1600 applications for environmental clearances were received in 2022, and over 75% environmental clearance certificates were issued, especially for activities related to hazardous substances, infrastructure development, land rezoning and mining, minister of environment, forestry and tourism Pohamba Shifeta has said.
In his remarks, Shifeta noted that the application process for environmental clearance certificates has improved in recent years due to the online application system and intensification of awareness activities.
“The Ministry was also able to inspect 80 sites for environmental compliance and monitoring during 2022. Illegal sand mining remains a challenge and the Ministry is working closely with Traditional Authorities and Nampol to better regulate ever-increasing sand mining activities. The Ministry has also developed draft regulations specific to sand mining in terms of the Environmental Management Act to improve coordination and regulation of this difficult challenge,” Shifeta said.
In terms of solid waste management, Shifeta said that the Ministry is working with various stakeholders on waste disposal standards and guidelines.
“We are currently in consultation with the Namibia Standard Institute to adopt the South African minimum requirements for waste disposal at landfills. Furthermore, the Ministry has submitted a proposal to cabinet to ban the single use plastic carry bags in 2023 as a measure to reduce litter and environmental degradation,” he aded.
Since 2017, the Ministry has been working on the review of the Environmental Management Act of 2007. The Environmental Management Amendment Draft Bill has been finalized after a thorough consultative process concluded in October 2020. Parts proposed for insertion include among others the declaration of environmental standards, strengthened measures to prevent pollution, procedures with regard to the application of strategic environmental assessments and strengthened provisions with regard to waste management.
“The amendment bill also makes provision to ensure that environmental assessment practitioners are registered and meet a certain standard to an improved quality in assessments. Furthermore, through the amendment bill, the Ministry plans to increase the validity of Environmental Clearance Certificates from 3 to 5 years. The Ministry is in the process to submit the amendment bill to the cabinet committee on legislation. It is our hope that the bill we be submitted further to parliament for approval this year,” further explained Shifeta.
On another note, Shifeta also highlighted the Ministry’s commitment to strengthen the conservation of Namibia’s forest resources and to open up opportunities for improved livelihoods and generate economic growth on a sustainable basis.
“Community forests are a key instrument in this regard and now cover an area of 8.7 million hectares, while another 16 Community Forests are in the process of gazettement. During the period under review, the Ministry has observed with concern increasing construction of settlements in community forest areas and is calling on the assistance of Traditional Authorities in stamping out this illegal activity,” he said adding that he was pleased to report that the restriction introduced on timber harvesting, transportation, marketing and export in 2018 has led to a major reduction in deforestation and illegal timber harvesting.
“The Ministry also stepped up forest monitoring and inspection activities to ensure prevention of illegal operations. In an effort to promote the local timber industry, the restriction was partially lifted to allow for transportation of timber within the country.
“As a result of this, we have seen the establishment of some local sawmills and increased local value addition taking place with regard to timber resources. This is encouraging and we will consider further lifting of the restriction in the next financial year, at least with respect to community forests that are dependent on the sustainable utilization of forest resources,” Shifeta said.
He also explained that one of the impacts his Ministry wants to see in the forestry sector is the transformation of orchards, plantations and nurseries so that they make a greater contribution to food security and livelihood diversification at local level.
“During the year under review, we produced more than seventy-four thousand (74,000) seedlings from government nurseries, and sold over sixty-one thousand (61,000) of these to the public at subsidized prices and donated 800 seedlings to public institutions. I would like to encourage all Namibians to do their part in terms of planting trees and procure tree seedlings from nurseries closest to them,” Shifeta said.