A PROPOSED industrial park for chemical factories between Mile 6 and Wlotzkasbaken does not sit well with the tourism industry at the coast.
South African company Gecko Chemicals introduced its plan at a public meeting in Swakopmund on Tuesday, attended by an unusually large audience of 400 people.Four sites are earmarked; three of which are north of Swakopmund towards Wlotzkasbaken, and the fourth behind Dune 7 at Walvis Bay.All of these are situated in the newly proclaimed Dorob National Park; a Category One protected area that should legally not be used for heavy industrial developments.The proposed project, called Vision Industrial Park (VIP) is estimated to cost N$12 billion. The plan includes three chemical factories (sulphuric acid, soda ash and phosphoric acid), which will cover an area of about 4000 hectares. The acid plant is projected to produce up to 1,2 million tons of acid a year by using about 400 000 tons of sulphur, which would be imported via a proposed port (to be called ‘The Port of Swakopmund’ or ‘Swaport’) for bulk commodities with a jetty stretching approximately 1,5 km, and a breakwater.A ‘salt factory’ for the plants is planned to be erected at Cape Cross. A 50-Megawatt power plant and a desalination plant would also be needed.According to Gecko Chemicals, up to 11 250 people would be employed during the two-year construction phase, and 2 470 people afterwards.’Namibia wants to be industrialised by 2030; this is Government’s vision. We need to know what the limits are and have to be able to live with the ‘positives’. Our Government wants their bread buttered on both sides, hence we have to find a win-win situation,’ said meeting facilitator Peter Tarr.According to Gecko Namibia’s director, Pine van Wyk, the proposed industrial park is a component of the ‘uranium rush’, supplying the uranium industry with the chemicals it needs, but even if uranium becomes redundant, the products from the park would not lose their value as there are many industries in southern Africa that could import them. He said at the moment, over N$2 billion a year is spent importing chemicals from overseas.Once the planned factories are up and running, the uranium industry could save that money, plus the export value of the chemicals could contribute nearly N$6 billion a year to the local economy, which is about 10 per cent of Namibia’s GDP.The tourism industry, on the other hand, is estimated to contribute up to N$25 billion to the GDP, and currently provides work to over 33 000 people (2009 figure).’The tourism industry is a sustainable industry, and most tourists come to – and return to – the Namibian coast because of its pristine, untouched character. A park’s purpose is to protect the environment. Park ordinances say that no damage nor poison should be allowed,’ local environmental and tourism experts said at the meeting.The area, especially around Mile 8, is also world-renowned when it comes to shark fishing. People come from all over the world to catch shark there and spend a lot of money. ‘What will happen to that when a heavy industrial park is there?’ asked a representative of the angling fraternity.Another, more objective comment was that: ‘Industrial development is important in Namibia otherwise we can’t feed the nation just with subsistence farming.’Tarr gave the assurance that ‘focus group’ meetings will follow as the process moves from the scoping phase to an environmental impact assessment.
