City cracks down on Ramatex

THE Windhoek Municipality has put a stop to activities at the Ramatex Textile Factory, which are polluting the capital’s water sources.

The action comes in light of evidence that toxins from the factory have infiltrated the city’s underground water sources as well as the Goreangab Dam and possibly even the Gammams Water Reclamation Works. Activities at the factory affected are the washing and dyeing of fabrics.Windhoek CEO Niilo Taapopi told the monthly council meeting last night that the pollution of the environment through waste from the factory was of “great concern” and had been noted with a “sense of urgency” by the municipality.He confirmed that the municipality had withdrawn conditional permission for the so-called “wet process” the city granted Ramatex in April 2003, because visits to the premises had revealed violations of their agreement.Wet processing refers to the various washing, dyeing and finishing techniques using water and other liquids that enhance textiles.This morning, Permanent Secretaries from the Ministries of Environment and Tourism, Agriculture, Water and Rural Development, Regional and Local Government and Housing and Trade and Industry will visit the factory with the municipality’s technical team to point out the severity of the situation.Taapopi said last night that it was sometimes difficult for the city to meet with the ministers, but that the Minister of Trade and Industry was expected to make a Cabinet submission on the matter soon.”This is an ongoing process which we are confident will yield tangible results not only about the water pollution but all environmental concerns,” he said.The city’s pronouncement on a matter it has not been publicly open about, follows pressure from opposition party councillors that, in the public interest, the municipality needed to take action.The DTA’s sole representative Ilme Schneider last night posed several questions on the matter in light of last week’s management meeting when the matter was last discussed.Schneider wanted to know whether the Ministers of Agriculture, Local Government and Environment had been informed of the latest findings, and whether the Minister of Trade and Industry Jesaya Nyamu supported the City in its attempts to clamp down on the violations of Ramatex’s agreement with the City.The opposition party councillors allege Government protection of the factory after a management decision taken on September 6 that Ramatex Executive Director Albert Lim come to Namibia for meetings to sort out the issue, was reversed at their next meeting two weeks later.At the September 6 meeting, the management committee also vowed to cut the water supply to the factory if Lim did not arrive in Windhoek by September 13.Mayor Matthew Shikongo was requested to convey the ultimatum to the Minister of Trade and Industry Jesaya Nyamu.At their management committee meeting last week, the councillors softened their stance towards the situation, retracting their earlier decisions and instead deciding that Shikongo inform the Ministers of Agriculture, Local Government and Environment of the pollution and to request feedback.They further demanded that an Environmental Impact Assessment Report endorsed by the Ministry of Environment be submitted to the City and that the factory give an indication of when it planned to install a reverse osmosis plant in terms of their agreement with the city.Schneider last night pressed for the council to commit itself to take legal action against the Malaysian-run concern if it did not adhere to the agreement the parties signed in 2001.In July, Nyamu headed a delegation of officials from the Investment Centre, the Off-Shore Development Corporation, municipal officials as well the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development to Malaysia to iron out the city’s concerns with Lim, but to no avail.City officials met with the Ramatex management on Monday to discuss the removal and hazardous waste from the premises, which the factory earlier refused the municipality’s involvement, preferring to instead hire a private company.Activities at the factory affected are the washing and dyeing of fabrics.Windhoek CEO Niilo Taapopi told the monthly council meeting last night that the pollution of the environment through waste from the factory was of “great concern” and had been noted with a “sense of urgency” by the municipality.He confirmed that the municipality had withdrawn conditional permission for the so-called “wet process” the city granted Ramatex in April 2003, because visits to the premises had revealed violations of their agreement.Wet processing refers to the various washing, dyeing and finishing techniques using water and other liquids that enhance textiles.This morning, Permanent Secretaries from the Ministries of Environment and Tourism, Agriculture, Water and Rural Development, Regional and Local Government and Housing and Trade and Industry will visit the factory with the municipality’s technical team to point out the severity of the situation.Taapopi said last night that it was sometimes difficult for the city to meet with the ministers, but that the Minister of Trade and Industry was expected to make a Cabinet submission on the matter soon.”This is an ongoing process which we are confident will yield tangible results not only about the water pollution but all environmental concerns,” he said.The city’s pronouncement on a matter it has not been publicly open about, follows pressure from opposition party councillors that, in the public interest, the municipality needed to take action.The DTA’s sole representative Ilme Schneider last night posed several questions on the matter in light of last week’s management meeting when the matter was last discussed.Schneider wanted to know whether the Ministers of Agriculture, Local Government and Environment had been informed of the latest findings, and whether the Minister of Trade and Industry Jesaya Nyamu supported the City in its attempts to clamp down on the violations of Ramatex’s agreement with the City.The opposition party councillors allege Government protection of the factory after a management decision taken on September 6 that Ramatex Executive Director Albert Lim come to Namibia for meetings to sort out the issue, was reversed at their next meeting two weeks later.At the September 6 meeting, the management committee also vowed to cut the water supply to the factory if Lim did not arrive in Windhoek by September 13.Mayor Matthew Shikongo was requested to convey the ultimatum to the Minister of Trade and Industry Jesaya Nyamu.At their management committee meeting last week, the councillors softened their stance towards the situation, retracting their earlier decisions and instead deciding that Shikongo inform the Ministers of Agriculture, Local Government and Environment of the pollution and to request feedback.They further demanded that an Environmental Impact Assessment Report endorsed by the Ministry of Environment be submitted to the City and that the factory give an indication of when it planned to install a reverse osmosis plant in terms of their agreement with the city.Schneider last night pressed for the council to commit itself to take legal action against the Malaysian-run concern if it did not adhere to the agreement the parties signed in 2001.In July, Nyamu headed a delegation of officials from the Investment Centre, the Off-Shore Development Corporation, municipal officials as well the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development to Malaysia to iron out the city’s concerns with Lim, but to no avail.City officials met with the Ramatex management on Monday to discuss the removal and hazardous waste from the premises, which the factory earlier refused the municipality’s involvement, preferring to instead hire a private company.