Grace granted to sand miners

SAND miners in the Swakop River near Swakopmund have been granted a grace period to continue mining until a more suitable area can be allocated.

At a meeting last week it was decided that sand mining would be allowed on the south-western side of the old sand pits in the riverbed, which were flooded by the Swakop River in February, for a few months. The interim area will be marked off and sand excavators will be required to only mine within the demarcated area. The meeting was attended by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, sand miners and plot owners along the Swakop River. The compromise follows a letter sent to the Swakopmund Town Council last week to halt all sand mining in the riverbed as plot owners complained that agriculture, tourism and the environment in the area were negatively affected by the sand mining.On the other hand, said sand miners, a halt in their activities would have adversely affected the multimillion-dollar coastal construction industry, which depends on sand from the Swakop River. adam@namibian.com.na