Botswana submits EIA for Walvis Bay project

Keikantse Lesemela | Tuesday June 17, 2014 07:00

 

The corporate communications manager of Botswana Railways, Kefilwe Batsalelwang told Mmegi Business that the comments from residents were incorporated into the report and submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Namibia by end of May.

“The infrastructural developments which includes the construction of palisade fencing were completed by the end of May and due to some complaints by residents in Namibia, the government of Botswana had to submit an EIA report again,” she said.

Batsalelwang said after the approval of the EIA by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Namibia the facility will be opened for trading.

After completion of infrastructural construction for the Walvis Bay Dry Port in Namibia in May this year, Botswana intended to move to the next phase of the project but faced resistance from some residents. 

Residents were complaining that that the EIA had not been carried out before the construction. They complained about dust, noise pollution and several other health and safety concerns including cracks starting to appear in the walls of their homes due to the construction work on site.

Botswana Railways chief executive, Dominic Ntwaagae told Mmegi Business that before the construction of the project the consultant from Namibia was engaged to carry out the EIA but they advised that it was not necessary because it was not a greenfield project. 

“The consultants from Namibia had told us that we do not have to undertake the EIA since this is not a green field project but we were also consulting with the environmental affairs in Namibia but they also approved the project without the EIA,” he said.

He said it was agreed that the EIA would be undertaken for the next phase of the project, which includes the earthworks construction for improving the ground founding properties within the plot as a whole. This includes the pavements and driveways and construction of buildings for the proper operation of the plot as a Dry Port Facility.

However the Minister of Transport and Communications, Nonofo Molefhi has recently highlighted that the complaints are not based on truth but rather they are the revenge tactics by some people in Namibia. 

“We have heard these reports but they is not true, it is a revenge tactic by the estate business people because we once planned to buy property in that country and later we turned down the offer so they do not want to see our project being successful. 

I can assure you that the government of Namibia is on our side and the President is waiting for our project to be successful,” said Molefhi. A company called Sea Rail Botswana, which is registered and wholly owned by Botswana Railways, will run the Dry Port.

The port is intended as a key receipt or dispatch point for commodities either destined to Botswana or regionally providing storage and bagging. 

Government of Botswana  secured land in Walvis Bay for 50 years in order to facilitate the import-export activities of the Southern African Development Committee (SADC) members.

It is expected to offer handling as well as temporary storage services for goods carried in bond by an applicable transport mode, placed under customs control and with customs and other agencies competent to release goods for domestic use, warehouse, temporary admissions, re-export, temporary storage for onward transit as well as outright export.

The dry port encompasses an area of 36,200 square metres of land located at the Southeastern side of the Walvis Bay port next to TransNamib locomotive maintenance and road depots.