Ramatex pollution proved

THE City of Windhoek will soon take over waste disposal management at Ramatex after underground water pollution was discovered.

Environmentalists have raised concerns about underground water pollution since the establishment of the Ramatex Textile Factory in 2001, but Government had previously threatened to take legal action against such reports in the media. Yesterday, the Corporate Communications Manager at the City of Windhoek, Ndangi Katoma, said they would soon be taking over the factory’s waste management.That would come as a huge relief to residents in the Otjomuise and Gammams areas, who have complained about air pollution.Katoma said the Municipality was currently monitoring the factory’s impact on groundwater on a three-monthly basis, thanks to monitoring drill stations situated in the surrounding area.Through this process, the municipality has discovered that the environmentalists’ concerns were in fact legitimate, at least within close proximity of the Ramatex factory.”Using these drill stations, the City has determined that there is some pollution of the groundwater, but this is only in the immediate area surrounding the factory,” Katoma said, adding that the City does not extract water for consumption from this area at all.He said the City would soon start to transfer sludge from water ponds at Ramatex to the Kupferberg dumpsite outside Windhoek, at the cost of the Malaysian-owned company.It was previously disposed of by a private contractor hired by Ramatex.In addition, Katoma said, Government has already made funds available for the reconstruction of the areas affected by the pollution.Details on when the City will start to take over the waste management, and whether Windhoek residents will have to contribute towards the cleaning of the area, could not be confirmed.Katoma said this all depended on contractual agreements between the City, Government and Ramatex that had not been finalised yet.In 2004 already, a report by an independent engineering company contracted to come up with a solution to improve Ramatex’s recycling process suggested that the Windhoek Municipality or an independent contractor take over the factory’s recycling system.The report suggested that while the current recycling plant, which cost around N$8 million, was “sophisticated”, there had been miscalculations in its construction.Ramatex uses large evaporation ponds to store wastewater.However, not enough water is evaporating from them and the ponds are believed to have overflowed on several occasions, mixing with water from streams that run towards the Goreangab Dam.The factory has also been accused of disposing poisonous wastewater by spraying it onto open areas behind the factory premises.Although water contamination from the factory appears to be limited to its immediate surroundings, Municipal officials have described the problem as serious.Water extracted from boreholes in the area has shown a high salt content.Ramatex is adjacent to the Gammams Water Treatment Works, and near one of the city’s main aquifers.Furthermore, there is no appropriate facility in the Windhoek area for the disposal of the salt produced by the factory.The dyeing and washing of fabrics has been scaled down considerably since September 2004, when the City of Windhoek promised that action would be taken against the factory for its non-compliance with their agreement.The factory has since stopped dyeing dark fabrics, which require large amounts of salt.When Ramatex was established, the Namibian Branch of Earthlife Africa raised a raft of concerns over the absence of an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the multi-million dollar textile factory.That provoked a barrage of verbal attacks on Earthlife members Ulli Eins and Bertchen Kohrs, who were accused at public meetings of being “alarmist and sensational”.At one such gathering, former President Sam Nujoma said the two wanted to “throw the spanner in the wheels of our economic development”, and were questioning Government’s commitment towards the environment.He was supported in this by former Trade and Industry Minister Hidipo Hamutenya and Windhoek Mayor Matheus Shikongo.Nujoma claimed that behind the “faceless” Earthlife Namibia’s “propaganda charade” was a “thinly disguised and irresponsible political agenda”.Yesterday, the Corporate Communications Manager at the City of Windhoek, Ndangi Katoma, said they would soon be taking over the factory’s waste management.That would come as a huge relief to residents in the Otjomuise and Gammams areas, who have complained about air pollution.Katoma said the Municipality was currently monitoring the factory’s impact on groundwater on a three-monthly basis, thanks to monitoring drill stations situated in the surrounding area.Through this process, the municipality has discovered that the environmentalists’ concerns were in fact legitimate, at least within close proximity of the Ramatex factory.”Using these drill stations, the City has determined that there is some pollution of the groundwater, but this is only in the immediate area surrounding the factory,” Katoma said, adding that the City does not extract water for consumption from this area at all.He said the City would soon start to transfer sludge from water ponds at Ramatex to the Kupferberg dumpsite outside Windhoek, at the cost of the Malaysian-owned company.It was previously disposed of by a private contractor hired by Ramatex. In addition, Katoma said, Government has already made funds available for the reconstruction of the areas affected by the pollution.Details on when the City will start to take over the waste management, and whether Windhoek residents will have to contribute towards the cleaning of the area, could not be confirmed.Katoma said this all depended on contractual agreements between the City, Government and Ramatex that had not been finalised yet. In 2004 already, a report by an independent engineering company contracted to come up with a solution to improve Ramatex’s recycling process suggested that the Windhoek Municipality or an independent contractor take over the factory’s recycling system.The report suggested that while the current recycling plant, which cost around N$8 million, was “sophisticated”, there had been miscalculations in its construction.Ramatex uses large evaporation ponds to store wastewater.However, not enough water is evaporating from them and the ponds are believed to have overflowed on several occasions, mixing with water from streams that run towards the Goreangab Dam.The factory has also been accused of disposing poisonous wastewater by spraying it onto open areas behind the factory premises.Although water contamination from the factory appears to be limited to its immediate surroundings, Municipal officials have described the problem as serious.Water extracted from boreholes in the area has shown a high salt content.Ramatex is adjacent to the Gammams Water Treatment Works, and near one of the city’s main aquifers.Furthermore, there is no appropriate facility in the Windhoek area for the disposal of the salt produced by the factory.The dyeing and washing of fabrics has been scaled down considerably since September 2004, when the City of Windhoek promised that action would be taken against the factory for its non-compliance with their agreement.The factory has since stopped dyeing dark fabrics, which require large amounts of salt.When Ramatex was established, the Namibian Branch of Earthlife Africa raised a raft of concerns over the absence of an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the multi-million dollar textile factory.That provoked a barrage of verbal attacks on Earthlife members Ulli Eins and Bertchen Kohrs, who were accused at public meetings of being “alarmist and sensational”.At one such gathering, former President Sam Nujoma said the two wanted to “throw the spanner in the wheels of our economic development”, and were questioning Government’s commitment towards the environment.He was supported in this by former Trade and Industry Minister Hidipo Hamutenya and Windhoek Mayor Matheus Shikongo.Nujoma claimed that behind the “faceless” Earthlife Namibia’s “propaganda charade” was a “thinly disguised and irresponsible political agenda”.