Onanime sand mining irks
Onanime sand mining irks

Onanime sand mining irks

Ileni Nandjato
The community of Onanime village in the Oshana Region continues to demand an end to all sand mining at their village.

The community says the Uukwambi Traditional Authority (UTA) is giving business people the right to mine sand at their village without consulting or compensating them.

On Saturday the community staged a peaceful demonstration against the latest sand mining activities by prominent businessman Ben Zaaruka of Benz Building and Stantoll Properties.

Community spokesperson Susan Herman said they were not consulted before Zaaruka started mining sand at the village and all their efforts to meet him were in vain.





“Zaaruka failed to provide us with an environmental clearance certificate and proof of minutes for consultative meetings held with the community. On several occasions, the Onanime Sand Mining Committee tried to invite him for meetings so that we could discuss the issue but he is always giving us excuses,” said Herman.

“Among the excuses he gave us were that he was preparing to go and attend founding father Sam Nujoma's birthday, secondly he said the letter we sent him had no agenda. Lastly he told us that he was going to attended Advocate Vekuii Rukoro's wedding.”

Herman said the sand mining continues without the community deriving any benefit.

When contacted for comment, Onanime village headman Primus Hango said he does not live at the village and is unaware of what is going on there.

“I have my assistants at the village and they did not tell me anything of such nature. Regarding how Zaaruka got the right to mine sand there, it is the responsibility of the Uukwambi Traditional Authority. They are the ones who allocate such land rights. The village heads only assist them by providing such land in question if it is available,” Hango said.

UTA spokesperson Reinhold Iita could not be reached for comment as his cellphone was off, while Zaaruka said on Saturday and yesterday that he could not talk because he was attending a cultural event at Okahandja.

In March this this year, environment minister Pohamba Shifeta ordered the suspension of certificates granted to the UTA for sand mining at Ekamba village and Onanime after the same community protested that they had not been consulted.

Shifeta said the communities had proven that there had been no public consultation and UTA was urged to comply with the law.

The environmental commissioner was instructed to facilitate consultation between the parties.

ILENI NANDJATO

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-29

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Katima Mulilo: 19° | 36° Rundu: 19° | 29° Eenhana: 19° | 29° Oshakati: 21° | 30° Ruacana: 20° | 33° Tsumeb: 19° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 29° Omaruru: 19° | 32° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Gobabis: 17° | 30° Henties Bay: 16° | 20° Wind speed: 22km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 11:22, High tide: 05:24, Low Tide: 23:26, High tide: 17:46 Swakopmund: 16° | 17° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:22, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:44 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:21, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:43 Rehoboth: 19° | 30° Mariental: 23° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 24° | 35° Aranos: 22° | 33° Lüderitz: 15° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 24° | 35° Oranjemund: 14° | 25° Luanda: 27° | 28° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 26° Mbabane: 16° | 21° Maseru: 11° | 29° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 27° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Cape Town: 17° | 28° Durban: 20° | 24° Johannesburg: 16° | 24° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 20° | 30° Harare: 16° | 29° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.8 | EUR to NAD 20.37 | CNY to NAD 2.62 | USD to NAD 18.9 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.77 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.15 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.91 | USD to ZMW 25.01 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74536 Up +0.85% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1528.69 Up +0.84% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12986.94 Up +0.04% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 27559.35 Down -2.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - 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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53%