No more digging in mahangu fields
The environment ministry has put a stop to building contractors who paid communal farmers to let them mine sand in their fields without government permission.
Construction companies working on the northern railway project have been ordered to fill in the pits left in mahangu fields where they excavated building sand without permission.
The illegal sand mining was described as “a grave concern” by the department of environmental affairs.
The environment ministry investigated the practice in response to complaints made by youth activist Job Amupanda to TransNamib in January.
Specific reference had been made to the ongoing construction of the 28-kilometre railway line between Ondangwa and Oshakati. Amupanda's Omaalala Youth Development Club (OYDC) alleged that the contractors mined sand in mahangu fields without following the proper procedures.
Based on the findings of the investigation, sand mining in crop fields will no longer be allowed.
The ministry's department of environmental affairs conducted inspections at six villages in the Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena regions in August.
All contractors were issued with compliance orders and ordered to stop the sand excavation immediately.
According to the ministry's conservation scientist, Ipeinge Mundjulu, contractors must obtain permission before extracting sand for their projects in other places such as oshanas.
Mundjulu shared the outcome of the investigation with Amupanda in a letter last week.
On 5 January, Amupanda had written a letter to TransNamib in which he expressed concern about the pits left by sand miners in mahangu fields.
He alleged that construction companies working on the railway line had offered the farmers money and they accepted it because they live in poverty.
The Ondonga Traditional Authority supported Amupanda's stance on the issue.
In the letter to Amupanda, Mundjulu wrote that the operators were warned to stop the sand mining and that those who defied the compliance orders would be prosecuted.
“All operators were issued with a compliance order as per the provision of Section 20 of the Environmental Management Act (EMA) of 2007 to immediately stop such operations and to adhere to the EMA for future operations, failure of which shall result in legal action against them,” the letter stated.
Mundjulu also indicated that the operators were ordered to rehabilitate the sand pits by 30 March 2018. Failure to meet the deadline would result in defaulters facing legal action, he said.
Approached for comment yesterday, Amupanda said he was happy that the ministry took up the matter.
“We are very happy about the development. They thought we were joking. We are however still monitoring the situation and we will wait until March next year to see whether they have filled up the pits,” Amupanda said.
KENYA KAMBOWE
The illegal sand mining was described as “a grave concern” by the department of environmental affairs.
The environment ministry investigated the practice in response to complaints made by youth activist Job Amupanda to TransNamib in January.
Specific reference had been made to the ongoing construction of the 28-kilometre railway line between Ondangwa and Oshakati. Amupanda's Omaalala Youth Development Club (OYDC) alleged that the contractors mined sand in mahangu fields without following the proper procedures.
Based on the findings of the investigation, sand mining in crop fields will no longer be allowed.
The ministry's department of environmental affairs conducted inspections at six villages in the Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena regions in August.
All contractors were issued with compliance orders and ordered to stop the sand excavation immediately.
According to the ministry's conservation scientist, Ipeinge Mundjulu, contractors must obtain permission before extracting sand for their projects in other places such as oshanas.
Mundjulu shared the outcome of the investigation with Amupanda in a letter last week.
On 5 January, Amupanda had written a letter to TransNamib in which he expressed concern about the pits left by sand miners in mahangu fields.
He alleged that construction companies working on the railway line had offered the farmers money and they accepted it because they live in poverty.
The Ondonga Traditional Authority supported Amupanda's stance on the issue.
In the letter to Amupanda, Mundjulu wrote that the operators were warned to stop the sand mining and that those who defied the compliance orders would be prosecuted.
“All operators were issued with a compliance order as per the provision of Section 20 of the Environmental Management Act (EMA) of 2007 to immediately stop such operations and to adhere to the EMA for future operations, failure of which shall result in legal action against them,” the letter stated.
Mundjulu also indicated that the operators were ordered to rehabilitate the sand pits by 30 March 2018. Failure to meet the deadline would result in defaulters facing legal action, he said.
Approached for comment yesterday, Amupanda said he was happy that the ministry took up the matter.
“We are very happy about the development. They thought we were joking. We are however still monitoring the situation and we will wait until March next year to see whether they have filled up the pits,” Amupanda said.
KENYA KAMBOWE
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