Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

vessels there are sophisticated security systems, and that operations are
mostly hands-off with no contact with the product. She said that two years
after leaving Government she did not know whether the situation has
changed or not.
Commenting on Ms. Zaamwani’s statement, Mr. Hamutenya said that
the proposals that were given to Government of Namibia were extravagant.
He said that the companies that undertook the research also exaggerated the
possible losses to the Government in order to justify these proposals. He said
that the Government is working on a simpler system that meets its needs
without spending so much money.
Another participant noted the similarity between the mining codes of
Belize, Namibia and Papua New Guinea with respect to requesting and
mandating an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) statement at the start
of prospecting. This participant mentioned that such a request results in
costly front-end payments when the viability of a deposit has not been
established. This participant stated that this requirement, depending on the
scale of operations could be a serious deterrent to investment
Ms. Zaamwani said that through the flexible way in which work is
done in Namibia, in particular by the Government not only understanding
that such front-end payments are not desirable and agreeing that operators
can submit this report before they proceed to the next stage, many problems
are overcome. She noted however, the law requires EIAs to be submitted
much earlier on. In that regard, she said that if anyone were to challenge the
current practice then it could become a problem. She said that as long as the
same people run affairs in the Ministry, and as long as their practice is
consistent then the system works. The main point she thought was to adjust
the law to make the practice legal.
It was pointed out by the participant from Belize that the situation
could become critical even if the same people run the stated affairs in
Government. This participant said that it was when a strong green lobby
exists that the situation becomes critical. The participant informed others that
in Belize, an offshore drilling project was delayed almost nine months because
the lobby wanted a full blown environmental impact statement even though
the law required something less. This participant therefore said that the
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