Ramatex closures linked to pollution

ENVIRONMENTAL concerns over operations at Ramatex have been given as the main reason behind the closure this month of three units at the Malaysian-owned garment factory in Windhoek.

The Namibia Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Nafau) held an urgent meeting with Ramatex on Friday, after The Namibian reported that the company had planned to take machinery from the units out of the country. After the meeting, Nafau General Secretary Kiros Sackarias said the company had assured the union that they were not planning to shut up shop and withdraw from Namibia.A sudden departure by Ramatex has been a long-standing fear among workers, most recently fuelled in May last year by the company’s failed proposal to Government to buy out the Windhoek factory.”They assured us that there would be no loss of jobs,” Sackarias told The Namibian about the latest developments.He added that the company attributed the recent closure of its spinning, knitting and dyeing factories to environmental concerns from the City of Windhoek.In September last year, City of Windhoek Communications Manager Ndangi Katoma confirmed there had been groundwater pollution in the area surrounding the Ramatex factory.The municipality has been monitoring the factory’s impact on groundwater on a three-monthly basis, using monitoring drill stations situated in the surrounding area.Following this discovery, the City was to start transferring sludge from wastewater ponds at Ramatex to the Kupferberg dumpsite outside Windhoek, at the company’s expense.Government then made funds available for the rehabilitation of the areas affected by the pollution.Sackarias said about 240 workers had been affected by the closure of the three departments, adding that these workers were all moved to the sewing department in the company’s Flamingo Garments factory.”These (closed) departments are apparently an issue for them as far as pollution and the environment are concerned.It seems they are under pressure,” Sackarias said.”Of course one never knows, but they’ve assured us there will be no job losses,” Sackarias said.Neither Ramatex itself, nor the Ministry of Trade and Information, were last week prepared to comment on what is happening at the factory, although both confirmed that “there are quite a number of things happening”.A meeting is scheduled between the company and the Ministry in Malaysia later this week, the Trade Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Andrew Ndishishi, said last week.All Ndishishi was prepared to say was that Government had halted plans by Ramatex to export machinery out of the country.Ramatex uses large evaporation ponds to store wastewater, but according to a 2004 report by an independent engineering company, not enough water was evaporating from these.This apparently led to the ponds overflowing on several occasions, mixing with water from streams that run towards the Goreangab Dam.Katoma has assured residents that the City of Windhoek does not extract drinking water from this area at all.After the meeting, Nafau General Secretary Kiros Sackarias said the company had assured the union that they were not planning to shut up shop and withdraw from Namibia.A sudden departure by Ramatex has been a long-standing fear among workers, most recently fuelled in May last year by the company’s failed proposal to Government to buy out the Windhoek factory.”They assured us that there would be no loss of jobs,” Sackarias told The Namibian about the latest developments.He added that the company attributed the recent closure of its spinning, knitting and dyeing factories to environmental concerns from the City of Windhoek.In September last year, City of Windhoek Communications Manager Ndangi Katoma confirmed there had been groundwater pollution in the area surrounding the Ramatex factory. The municipality has been monitoring the factory’s impact on groundwater on a three-monthly basis, using monitoring drill stations situated in the surrounding area.Following this discovery, the City was to start transferring sludge from wastewater ponds at Ramatex to the Kupferberg dumpsite outside Windhoek, at the company’s expense.Government then made funds available for the rehabilitation of the areas affected by the pollution.Sackarias said about 240 workers had been affected by the closure of the three departments, adding that these workers were all moved to the sewing department in the company’s Flamingo Garments factory.”These (closed) departments are apparently an issue for them as far as pollution and the environment are concerned.It seems they are under pressure,” Sackarias said.”Of course one never knows, but they’ve assured us there will be no job losses,” Sackarias said.Neither Ramatex itself, nor the Ministry of Trade and Information, were last week prepared to comment on what is happening at the factory, although both confirmed that “there are quite a number of things happening”.A meeting is scheduled between the company and the Ministry in Malaysia later this week, the Trade Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Andrew Ndishishi, said last week.All Ndishishi was prepared to say was that Government had halted plans by Ramatex to export machinery out of the country.Ramatex uses large evaporation ponds to store wastewater, but according to a 2004 report by an independent engineering company, not enough water was evaporating from these.This apparently led to the ponds overflowing on several occasions, mixing with water from streams that run towards the Goreangab Dam.Katoma has assured residents that the City of Windhoek does not extract drinking water from this area at all.