Namibia Custom Smelters gets advisory council

By: STAFF REPORTER

WELL-KNOWN Namibians Zedekia Ngavirue, Clara Bohitile and Haroldt Urib have been appointed to serve on the newly established Dundee-Namibia Custom Smelters Namibian Advisory Council.

The council will help ensure that the economic and social benefits to Namibia and the Oshikoto Region that come with a facility like Namibia Custom Smelters (NCS) are “equitable and sustainable”, Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) and its subsidiary NCS said in a statement yesterday. DPM and NCS further said they wish to ensure that the “planned environmental, safety and production upgrades to reposition the Tsumeb Smelter as a world-class facility, are completed quickly”.
NCS came under fire earlier this year when a  preliminary report showed that the uptake of arsenic at the smelter was excessive and posed a serious health risk to many workers, and Cabinet instructed the company to upgrade its systems.
The formation of the advisory council was “an important component of DPM’s ongoing commitment to transparency and the accrual of benefits to all stakeholders in the company’s operations and to the core values and vision of the company and its employees”, DPM’s statement said yesterday.
“The purpose of the council is to bring a greater depth of experience and understanding to the relationship between NCS and its various Namibian stakeholders and to ensure that NCS and DPM management are properly advised on developments in Namibia. This includes supporting the development and maintenance of important stakeholder relationships, and counselling NCS senior management on plans, policies and processes that have an impact on those relationships,” it said.
Ngavirue will chair the council. He was Namibia’s first director general of the National Planning Commission (NPC), and served as the chairperson of Rössing Uranium as well as Namibia’s Ambassador to the Benelux States (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) and the European Union.
Bohitile is well known in Namibian business and agricultural circles, is a director of a number of Namibian corporations, as well as the chairperson of Meatco.
Urib has a long history of service to Government in foreign affairs and trade, including many years in the diplomatic corps holding the positions of Deputy Chief of Mission in Namibia’s Embassy to the USA, Deputy Ambassador to the EU and Benelux States, and Ambassador and Chief of Staff to the President of the 54th UN General Assembly. He is a former CEO of Stanlib and Standard Bank Namibia’s Unit Trust Management Company, and is currently a Windhoek-based businessman.
“We are honoured that these eminent Namibians have agreed to join our advisory council and contribute their expertise to the success and sustainable operation of NCS,” said Jonathan Goodman, president and CEO of DPM.
“With their help, we look forward to building strong long- term relationships with our Namibian stakeholders and maintain our commitment to our core values.”

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