TradePort gets manganese green light

The environment ministry has issued TradePort Namibia, one of the South African companies planning to export manganese ore through the port of Lüderitz, an environmental clearance certificate (ECC). The ECC was issued on 7 February and confirmed by environment ministry spokesperson, Romeo Muyunda, who said it was done after a “thorough assessment” and after “all other inputs” were received for the application. The ECC is for the “importing and exporting of manganese ore and other commodities”. “Normally such an issuance of the ECC means that the ministry is satisfied [with an] environmental management plan provided for such an activity,” Muyunda said.He did not say if there would be any consequences for TradePort for having brought in the manganese ore from South Africa to Lüderitz during late December last year and early January this year without having secured an ECC at that time. A contravention of the Environmental Management Act of 2007 could result in a fine not exceeding N$500 000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 25 years, or both. A Lüderitz residents lobby group had petitioned for an immediate moratorium on the movement of manganese ore to and from the harbour, until sufficient environmental research had been done to identify and limit potential negative and fatal impacts.The group refused to comment on the ECC that was issued to TradePort, saying it had not received enough information from the environment ministry. “No comment,” said one resident, Crispin Clay, adding the lobby group was still investigating the circumstances surrounding the issuing of the ECC. “We are, however, not impressed with what we consider a shady and underhanded way this matter has been handled by TradePort, Namport and possibly the ministry. This was not done in the spirit of the law. We are being treated like mushrooms,” Clay said.The residents maintained that TradePort under no circumstances held public consultations with them, and that the company had merely placed advertisements in which it expressed its intent to move the manganese ore through Lüderitz in newspapers hardly available at the town.“We are not satisfied; we won't let it rest there,” Clay said.Conditions of ECCThe conditions of the ECC stipulate that potential dust-generating materials may not be stockpiled in the open at the Ariamsvlei border through which the manganese is imported from South Africa.Such materials may also not be stockpiled in the open on a concrete slab that TradePort had prepared for stockpiling, or at the Namport site at the harbour. The conditions also stipulate that only fully-closed bagged or containerised materials may be stockpiled “in line with TransNamib and Namport requirements”.Further, all potentially dusty materials such as manganese lumpy ore is to be transported from South Africa straight into fully enclosed warehouses at Ariamsvlei and the Lüderitz port, with no intermediate stockpiling on the concrete slab. Should additional stockpiling be required outside the port area, a warehouse must be constructed at the concrete slab.The ECC states that this measure should “significantly reduce the risk of dust emissions to the local environment and traffic congestion or bottlenecks within the town”. Truck deliveries are to be spread over a longer period and should take place at a “significantly reduced frequency”. Manganese ore and all other materials to be transported must be “contained and be in a stable state, covered in trucks and treated against dusty-generation properties” along the B3 and B4 roads to Lüderitz and at the storage facility within the port area.The ECC also states that manganese ore must be sieved at South African mines, handled with appropriate moisture content and must “always covered to avoid dust emissions” along the way. The loading of the manganese onto ships at the harbour is to be done in line with Namport operational requirements. The ore must be “covered at all times and handled with appropriate moisture content”, in order to avoid dust emissions.CATHERINE SASMAN

TradePort gets manganese green light

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-28

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TradePort gets manganese green light

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-28

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