Windhoek plans to beef up monitoring of industrial waste

THE City of Windhoek aims to inspect all industries in the capital to check on water waste discharges that are harmful to the environment.

Currently, only 22 industries are on the City’s monitoring list, the City’s Pollution Control Officer, Lorraine !Gaoses told a recent Lafrenz Industrial Area Environmental Awareness Raising Workshop in Windhoek. !Gaoses said the City was in the process of updating a formula and aimed to promulgate a new drainage regulation, which would deal with all industries on the monitoring list.She said so far they had monitored and inspected 16 of the 22 industries.Many of these were not open about their raw material usage and only two were listed as using hazardous materials.The City’s Health Inspector, Jefta Goreseb, said the Lafrenz campaign was a starting point and the municipality would in future focus on other industrial areas.He explained that unfriendly industrial activities increased the generation of waste and pressure on the environment.These also caused the depletion and loss of natural resources, resulting in human diseases and long-term liabilities.Goreseb said tangible programmes needed to be put in place to address the issue.”We should remember we inherit the earth from our parents and we are (lending) it to our children,” he said.City Councillor Boas Ekandjo opened the workshop, saying that while industrial activities generally aimed to improve the livelihoods of towns, cities and the country, they had the ability to damage the environment by creating severe impacts that were irreversible.He said the City had sensitive resources, including water, that constantly needed protection, hence the need for pollution control and environmental protection.!Gaoses said the City was in the process of updating a formula and aimed to promulgate a new drainage regulation, which would deal with all industries on the monitoring list.She said so far they had monitored and inspected 16 of the 22 industries.Many of these were not open about their raw material usage and only two were listed as using hazardous materials.The City’s Health Inspector, Jefta Goreseb, said the Lafrenz campaign was a starting point and the municipality would in future focus on other industrial areas.He explained that unfriendly industrial activities increased the generation of waste and pressure on the environment.These also caused the depletion and loss of natural resources, resulting in human diseases and long-term liabilities.Goreseb said tangible programmes needed to be put in place to address the issue.”We should remember we inherit the earth from our parents and we are (lending) it to our children,” he said.City Councillor Boas Ekandjo opened the workshop, saying that while industrial activities generally aimed to improve the livelihoods of towns, cities and the country, they had the ability to damage the environment by creating severe impacts that were irreversible.He said the City had sensitive resources, including water, that constantly needed protection, hence the need for pollution control and environmental protection.