Donkey saga: Fu Hai claims it has green light
JANA-MARI SMITH
A notice asking for help to process blood and organic waste from a planned cattle and donkey abattoir in Outjo strongly suggests that the Chinese and Namibian owned company has been given pre-approval by the ministries of agriculture and environment and tourism for its planned operations.
This week, Namibian Sun was shown a notice, signed by a Namibian owner of Fu Hai Trading Enterprise, Shane Hangula, which states that the company has received the “go ahead from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Veterinary Services and Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET).”
However, MET denied this week that an environmental clearance certificate (ECC), the only formal or informal input the ministry is entitled to give, had been issued.
“No! There is no ECC issued for such activity,” environmental commissioner Theofilus Nghitila told Namibian Sun.
Svenja Garrard of Quivertree consulting, who is conducting the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project, told Namibian Sun that to date, “no approvals have been given, as the legislated EIA process has not been completed.”
The response applied to both the agriculture and environment ministries.
It is not clear in what way the notice will, or already has been, distributed to parties.
However, a second form drafted by Fu Hai Trading provides possible interested parties a handy form containing pre-drafted text that they can simply date and sign.
The form states that the person declares that their company “will use a portion of land on our farm to set up an irrigation plant of blood and organic waste from Fu Hai Trading Enterprise exporting abattoir for fertiliser production. We will be accountable for all the blood waste handling and composting.”
The notice asking for assistance to process “organic waste and blood” introduces Fu Hai Trading Enterprises as a “Namibian company aiming to set up a state-of-the-art multi-species abattoir in Outjo.”
To date, only two partners have been identified as owners of Fu Hai Trading, including Shane Hangula who signed the recent letter and a Chinese national identified by the Outjo municipality earlier this year only as “Mr Chengdabiek”.
The main aim of the notice is to plead with companies to agree to be supplied with organic waste, free of charge, from the abattoir that “can be used to produce blood meal known as one of the best fertilisers for crop farming or a deterrent to some animals (sic).”
The document explains that in order to be able to provide EIA consultants with “valid information on how the disposal of blood from our abattoirs slaughtered animals will be handled”, Fu Hai Trading needs companies to provide details on how organic waste materials will be processed.
Fu Hai Trading Enterprises is keen to find the “best ways possible to have an environmentally friendly project” that will benefit the Namibian market the letter tells potential fertiliser companies.
In exchange for accepting and processing the waste, Fu Hai Trading Enterprise promises to provide the waste material at no cost and indicate they will set up “a fertilisation plant on a piece of your land with all the waste management and treatment included. All costs will be covered by our company and will then assist you to set up the operations to run the proposed project as your 100% business (sic).”
Experts, who spoke to Namibian Sun on condition of anonymity, said that it is not unusual for companies to dispose of organic waste via secondary partners.
However, experts warned that before businesses could agree to such a deal, it would be crucial to first determine the volumes of blood and other organic waste that need to be processed and to investigate possible water and other natural resource contamination.
Moreover, considering the large quantities of organic waste output from an abattoir that plans to slaughter hundreds of donkeys and cattle a week, sufficient processing space would be crucial.
Several attempts to contact Hangula on a cellphone number attached to the notice were unsuccessful by time of going to print.
Hangula is a real estate broker in Swakopmund.
A notice asking for help to process blood and organic waste from a planned cattle and donkey abattoir in Outjo strongly suggests that the Chinese and Namibian owned company has been given pre-approval by the ministries of agriculture and environment and tourism for its planned operations.
This week, Namibian Sun was shown a notice, signed by a Namibian owner of Fu Hai Trading Enterprise, Shane Hangula, which states that the company has received the “go ahead from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Veterinary Services and Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET).”
However, MET denied this week that an environmental clearance certificate (ECC), the only formal or informal input the ministry is entitled to give, had been issued.
“No! There is no ECC issued for such activity,” environmental commissioner Theofilus Nghitila told Namibian Sun.
Svenja Garrard of Quivertree consulting, who is conducting the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project, told Namibian Sun that to date, “no approvals have been given, as the legislated EIA process has not been completed.”
The response applied to both the agriculture and environment ministries.
It is not clear in what way the notice will, or already has been, distributed to parties.
However, a second form drafted by Fu Hai Trading provides possible interested parties a handy form containing pre-drafted text that they can simply date and sign.
The form states that the person declares that their company “will use a portion of land on our farm to set up an irrigation plant of blood and organic waste from Fu Hai Trading Enterprise exporting abattoir for fertiliser production. We will be accountable for all the blood waste handling and composting.”
The notice asking for assistance to process “organic waste and blood” introduces Fu Hai Trading Enterprises as a “Namibian company aiming to set up a state-of-the-art multi-species abattoir in Outjo.”
To date, only two partners have been identified as owners of Fu Hai Trading, including Shane Hangula who signed the recent letter and a Chinese national identified by the Outjo municipality earlier this year only as “Mr Chengdabiek”.
The main aim of the notice is to plead with companies to agree to be supplied with organic waste, free of charge, from the abattoir that “can be used to produce blood meal known as one of the best fertilisers for crop farming or a deterrent to some animals (sic).”
The document explains that in order to be able to provide EIA consultants with “valid information on how the disposal of blood from our abattoirs slaughtered animals will be handled”, Fu Hai Trading needs companies to provide details on how organic waste materials will be processed.
Fu Hai Trading Enterprises is keen to find the “best ways possible to have an environmentally friendly project” that will benefit the Namibian market the letter tells potential fertiliser companies.
In exchange for accepting and processing the waste, Fu Hai Trading Enterprise promises to provide the waste material at no cost and indicate they will set up “a fertilisation plant on a piece of your land with all the waste management and treatment included. All costs will be covered by our company and will then assist you to set up the operations to run the proposed project as your 100% business (sic).”
Experts, who spoke to Namibian Sun on condition of anonymity, said that it is not unusual for companies to dispose of organic waste via secondary partners.
However, experts warned that before businesses could agree to such a deal, it would be crucial to first determine the volumes of blood and other organic waste that need to be processed and to investigate possible water and other natural resource contamination.
Moreover, considering the large quantities of organic waste output from an abattoir that plans to slaughter hundreds of donkeys and cattle a week, sufficient processing space would be crucial.
Several attempts to contact Hangula on a cellphone number attached to the notice were unsuccessful by time of going to print.
Hangula is a real estate broker in Swakopmund.
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