Haufiku calls Armas tobacco project ‘chemical weapons’

Health and Social Services Minister, Bernard Haufiku, has condemned in the strongest terms the planned Chinese tobacco plantation in the Zambezi Region, describing it as a “chemical weapons” project. He has also urged residents of the region to choose health above toxins. “My plea to the youth, who apparently support the planting of chemical weapons in the name of tobacco in that great region, is: Let us choose health above toxins; choose life above death! No amount of money can be worth even a single human life,” Haufiku said, while attracting a prolonged bout of applauses. Haufiku was speaking at the launching ceremony of the USAID HIV Clinical Services Technical Assistance Project (UTAP) at Odibo in the Ohangwena Region yesterday. He directed the same plea to parents and the political leadership in Zambezi. “This same plea goes to some of my comrades and friends who are spearheading the tobacco project in that great region: Let us plant maize, potatoes, mahangu and other staples, not toxins. Let us all stand up together and fight the evils of tobacco and alcohol abuse in Namibia for the wellbeing of the present and future generations, and for our health programmes and projects, such as the one we are launching here today, to have impact and be meaningful,” he said. Swapo Oshikoto regional co-ordinator Armas Amukwiyu is a local shareholder of the Chinese-run Namibia Oriental Tobacco CC, the company that is planning to invest about N$1 billion to start the tobacco plantation on a 10 000 hectares of virgin land in Zambezi. It is said that China would be the project’s main export destination. The project has already been granted an Export Processing Zone status and a feasibility study has been done by Windhoek-based Geo Pollution Technologies. In opposing the tobacco project, Haufiku is following in the footsteps of his predecessor Richard Kamwi, who was also uncompromising in his rejection of the project. The envisaged project also faces opposition from the Affirmative Repositioning campaign, but members of the Mafwe Youth Forum are said to have supported the project, and demanded that it pay part of its proceeds to the Mafwe Traditional Authority. During an earlier interview with Namibian Sun, Amukwiyu said that if denied the virgin land they could move the project elsewhere in Africa. He added there has been strong speculation that the Namibian authorities would deny the needed permission. “We submitted our application already in 2013 and I now understand that the process is still with the Zambezi Land Board,” Amukwiyu said. Amukwiyu said when the regional land board completes its work the application will be submitted to the ministries of Land Reform and of Agriculture for the leasehold and forest clearing certificate. “If we do not get the green light, like we are hearing around, we will go elsewhere. Africa is big,” said Amukwiyu. As to which African country they are targeting, Amukwiyu said: “That is a question for the future. But for now we will focus on the process here to see where it goes. We are hoping it gets finalised very soon.” ODIBO PLACIDO HILUKILWA