Nam strides towards cleaner production

A NUMBER of industries in Namibia are applying Cleaner Production (CP), a senior official in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism said recently.

“Some of the larger Namibian industries have even adopted the best available technology within their sector and are performing to international standards,” said Dr Malan Lindeque, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry. This, he said, was mostly being done within the food and beverages sector and at tanneries.Lindeque said Government will continue to develop effective and pragmatic policies, supportive initiatives and guidelines that will make Cleaner Production become a national industrial tool towards achieving the goals of Vision 2030.”We all need to adopt the basic principles of Cleaner Production and make a significant contribution towards sustainable socio-economic development in Namibia and, in so doing, join the competitive world markets with confidence and success,” said Lindeque.He said CP requires a change in thinking in how policies are formulated and implemented.In essence, he said, it requires a paradigm shift from the current reactive, cure approach to a proactive, preventive approach.He was speaking at the launch of five documents on CP in Windhoek on Friday morning.He explained that the overall objective of the CP component in Namibia was to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the country’s socio-economic development activities.It was further expected to lead to industrial and service competitiveness through the introduction of continuous technology adoption, good manufacturing practices and improved occupational health and safety within the manufacturing and service sectors.The Director of Environmental Affairs in the Ministry of Environment, Teofilus Nghitila, who gave an update and progress made by the CP Component, said much had been achieved.He said an industrial environmental profile for the Oshana Region was done and CP activities would start next month.A CP demonstration project – the Ohandje Co-operative – has been successfully initiated, together with vocational centres in Windhoek and the Oshana Region.CP training at Ramatex was undertaken while a technical CP training course was held in April this year.Eighteen people attended the course.Thirteen Namibians, drawn from the public and private sector, participated in a CP study tour to Denmark in November last year.Nghitila said the purpose of the tour was to expose the participants to how CP is being implemented in Denmark and what instruments the authorities are applying to promote and facilitate CP there.This, he said, was mostly being done within the food and beverages sector and at tanneries.Lindeque said Government will continue to develop effective and pragmatic policies, supportive initiatives and guidelines that will make Cleaner Production become a national industrial tool towards achieving the goals of Vision 2030.”We all need to adopt the basic principles of Cleaner Production and make a significant contribution towards sustainable socio-economic development in Namibia and, in so doing, join the competitive world markets with confidence and success,” said Lindeque.He said CP requires a change in thinking in how policies are formulated and implemented.In essence, he said, it requires a paradigm shift from the current reactive, cure approach to a proactive, preventive approach.He was speaking at the launch of five documents on CP in Windhoek on Friday morning.He explained that the overall objective of the CP component in Namibia was to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the country’s socio-economic development activities.It was further expected to lead to industrial and service competitiveness through the introduction of continuous technology adoption, good manufacturing practices and improved occupational health and safety within the manufacturing and service sectors.The Director of Environmental Affairs in the Ministry of Environment, Teofilus Nghitila, who gave an update and progress made by the CP Component, said much had been achieved. He said an industrial environmental profile for the Oshana Region was done and CP activities would start next month.A CP demonstration project – the Ohandje Co-operative – has been successfully initiated, together with vocational centres in Windhoek and the Oshana Region.CP training at Ramatex was undertaken while a technical CP training course was held in April this year.Eighteen people attended the course.Thirteen Namibians, drawn from the public and private sector, participated in a CP study tour to Denmark in November last year.Nghitila said the purpose of the tour was to expose the participants to how CP is being implemented in Denmark and what instruments the authorities are applying to promote and facilitate CP there.