I’m not a scientist nor do I have much knowledge of science but one thing I’m sure of is the recent hype around phosphate mining in our sea waters around Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Lüderitz could one day be regretted.
We all know that by making use of phosphate fertilizers our agriculture frontiers can become fast growing sectors compared to the ordinary fertilizers that is not doing that good.
My plea however is that additional research be carried out to fully inform us about the benefits and how commercially viable these mining operations are.
We must also know what effects it has on commercial fishing especially on the shellfish industry, fauna and flora, fish and crayfish spawning, sediment chemistry, toxicity thresholds, trace elements, habitat, seabirds’ movement, noise, ocean currents and phosphate prices.
After spending several years during my childhood in Lüderitzbucht, I became very fond of that small peninsula where the Germans first concentrated and then exterminated an entire Namibian race, the Witboois and others, in 1905.
It was there that I was registered under a new name of Josef Ndungula. The apartheid South African forces demanded a “kop pass” (identification) each day.
Even though I was light in complexion many thought I was “Blank” (White), as I was staying in the location with my dear family that hails from the Kavango Region. It was then that I inherited their surname to play it safe. I thereafter was classified as Bantu. It was hard to convince the oppressors otherwise but I managed to pull through.
Back to the phosphate issue. My dear friend in Lüderitzbucht where a pilot project of phosphate mining is currently being carried out, told me that I had to visit him soon while he still has hair on his head and before he renovates the toilet into his living room.
He said he is worried that if I came five years from now, I might not recognise him as he probably will be bald and as thin as a reed.
Without going into details he said it might be quite dangerous if phosphate is mined from the sea floor and if these substances came into contact with humans there will be “kakas”.
I don’t want to believe him, but as other people except me might have thought that by discovering and mining phosphate on the bottom of our ocean, is something supernatural, I don’t.
As far as I know is that one day in the near future, of this particular mining activity, seismic activities might rupture the rocks where it will send the dangerous liquid called selenium to the surface that might kill all sea life as well as endangering life on shore.
I have done some homework and found that phosphate mining releases selenium, a non-metal element that is toxic in large quantities.
If the selenium is caught up in steams in large quantities along the beautiful fjords of Agate Beach or at Shark Island or Diaz Point, it will seep into soil where plants and all sea life will end.
Selenium toxicity is known to affect wildlife and it can also cause lethal deformities in birds and fish such as missing eyes and feet, deformed legs, wings and brains.
In humans, symptoms of selenosis can cause hair loss and gastrointestinal disorders.
Imagine all the precious and juicy rock lobsters gone from our dinner tables. The much delicious harder fish that is caught only in the Lüderitz lagoon, being deformed and all the penguins walking around the bay on one foot.
Let’s face it!, we all want to see development and industrialization in our time, but against what sacrifices?
I wish to tell my friend that I’ll be coming soon to capture him and the wildlife around Lüderitzbucht on camera before the great phosphate rush takes over. – Eewa
By Fifi Rhodes