Esau wants phosphate clearance withdrawn

Fisheries minister Bernhard Esau wants Cabinet to instruct the environment ministry to immediately withdraw the environmental clearance certificate issued to Namibia Marine Phosphate.

Esau's rejection of the phosphate project and recommendations are contained in a draft report obtained by The Namibian this week which proposed a detailed study on marine phosphate mining over three to five years. The minister wanted to make an urgent submission to Cabinet on Tuesday, but his attempt was blocked, possibly by the powerful group in Cabinet and some state officials who support phosphate mining. The report also shows how Cabinet resolutions adopted by former President Hifikepunye Pohamba's administration in 2013 were ignored when the ministry of environment approved an application to mine phosphates from the bottom of the ocean.