The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) says it is against the Sandpiper Marine Phosphate project due to environmental, social and public health concerns. The project proposes offshore phosphate mining through dredging the seabed for phosphate-rich sand. It received an environmental clearance certificate on 5 August. IPC shadow minister of environment and tourism Rodrick Likando says […] The post IPC opposes Sandpiper phosphate mining project appeared first on The Namibian .
The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) says it is against the Sandpiper Marine Phosphate project due to environmental, social and public health concerns.
The project proposes offshore phosphate mining through dredging the seabed for phosphate-rich sand. It received an environmental clearance certificate on 5 August.
IPC shadow minister of environment and tourism Rodrick Likando says countries that have mined phosphate, including Tunisia, Jordan and Nauru, have suffered the consequences of such mining.
“Communities were once told that phosphate extraction would bring prosperity with manageable environmental cost.
“The evidence from all three countries tells a starkly different story, one of poisoned water, sick children, barren land, and a national economy hollowed out once the resource was gone and the companies had moved on,” Likando says in a press release on Friday.
In Tunisia, communities near phosphate mines have high rates of cancer and respiratory conditions in children, he says.
Likando says Jordan’s experience of environmental damage should also caution Namibia.
Nauru also used to be a major producer of phosphate.
“Once among the wealthiest nations per capita on earth, Nauru collapsed into poverty once its reserves were exhausted, with the bulk of historical mining profits having flowed to foreign operators rather than the people whose land was consumed,” Likando says.
He says the environmental and social impact assessment carried out on the Sandpiper project has not “withstood independent legal and scientific scrutiny”.
“Namibia’s marine environment, a cornerstone of the Benguela ecosystem and our fishing industry, is arguably more fragile and less forgiving than terrestrial mine sites, and marine ecological damage may be even less reversible than damage on land,” he says.
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