中文
According to a report in The Namibian in October, the Namibian Environmental Commission issued an environmental permit certificate to Namibia Marine Phosphate (NMP), valid for 3 years. NMP is 85% owned by Omani billionaire Mohammed·Al Barwani, with 15% held by intermediaries. Namibian officials are divided on whether to approve the project. The Environmental Commission believes the company's submitted environmental impact assessment and management plan meet requirements and that regular environmental monitoring and evaluation should be conducted with reports to the Ministry of Environment; if any negative impact on the marine ecosystem occurs during mining, the environmental permit will be revoked. The Minister of Environment stated that the public has the right to appeal freely before a decision is made on whether to proceed. Namibian fisheries create 13,000 direct jobs and approximately 200,000 indirect jobs, while phosphate mining would only employ about 1,000 people. The chairman of the Fisheries Association stated that unless the cabinet announces approval, the ban on phosphate mining will remain in place, and emphasized that fisheries are not opposed to phosphate mining but hope to follow procedures such as public consultation. Currently, there is no precedent for marine phosphate mining worldwide.
