Petition to block marine phosphate miners

Coastal-based environmental group Earthlife Namibia is leading a public appeal to the government to maintain its denial of marine phosphate mining as a legal industry.With the question once again before politicians, the activist group this week issued a petition heavily opposed to the idea of marine phosphate mining, calling for the signatures of Namibians everywhere to give strength to the document. Namibia in 2013 put a moratorium on any potential phosphate mining from its seabed, following protests by activists and the country’s fishing industry, including the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.The moratorium expired last year. The government has remained cautious, assigning a cabinet committee to investigate the possible dangers of the contentious industry on the country’s environment and marine life.“Worldwide, land-based phosphate mining and processing has left a serious pollution problem behind,” the Earthlife Namibia petition reads.“This is because phosphate rock contains various metals and radioactive elements,” it continues, listing heavy metals like cadmium, arsenic, lead, mercury, chromium, vanadium and selenium, as well as radioactive elements uranium and thorium, among these polluting agents.“At this crucial time of drought, our government is being asked by international marine phosphate mining companies to compromise the integrity of Namibia’s environmental laws by promoting an industry that will directly and dramatically decrease the sustainability of the living marine resources, leaving behind an ocean that cannot provide for current or future generations,” the organisation said.The group’s most recent backing came in the form of a decision by the government of Mexico this year to deny a licence for the Don Diego marine phosphate mining project, with the justification that the project constituted a threat to seabed-dwelling organisms on which the endangered loggerhead turtle feeds.“Marine phosphate mining has never been done anywhere else in the world and Namibian coastal waters are now facing the threat of being the testing ground,” Earthlife Namibia said.“Specialists and international experts have identified significant and critical issues that require further investigation and to date these have not been addressed by the companies seeking to mine marine phosphate in Namibia.”The environmental impacts the organisation fears include negative effects on the spawning of fish, direct harm to hatcheries for fish species such as juvenile monk and hake, and the release of hazardous and radioactive materials that could kill wildlife and negatively affect the food quality of Namibia’s marine produce.By time of going to print yesterday, the organisation’s petition had reached 103 signees. It is hoping to secure at least 1 000 signatures.The petition can be read online at DENVER ISAACS

Petition to block marine phosphate miners

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-19

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Petition to block marine phosphate miners

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-19

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