FARMERS in the Goageb area of the //Kharas region urge authorities to urgently remove the manganese reportedly dumped in the vicinity of farm Brakwater.
The farm is located about 7km from Goageb on the B4 road to Aus.
Farmer Frikkie Mouton says they suspect the manganese was dumped either on Sunday or Monday by a manganese transporting truck.
“We do not know who or which company dumped the manganese. All we want is for it to be removed. Manganese is poisonous if inhaled by humans. We also have livestock moving around in this area,” said Mouton.
He noted from the size of the dumped manganese that it is clear that whoever was transporting the manganese didn’t deliver the assigned tonnage at Lüderitz.
TradePort Namibia rail logistics manager Henry Katokele said the company is not aware of any manganese dumped alongside the Keetmanshoop-Aus/Luderitz road or railway but they will begin an investigation.
TradePort Namibia is in the import and export trade operations of transport, handling and storage of manganese lumpy ore and other materials like gypsum, fertiliser and lime, as well as diesel in bond by utilising the Trans-Oranje Corridor.
“TradePort utilises rail transport for manganese, therefore, we would not know. However, it is not correct that these items get dumped alongside the national road as they are meant to be taken directly to the Lüderitz port from where they are exported to the international markets,” said Katokele.
Since 2019, the company has an agreement with TransNamib to provide a minimum of 30 000 metric tonnes of manganese concentrate per month to transport bulk manganese from the Northern Cape province in South Africa by rail to the Lüderitz port.
TransNamib spokesperson Abigail Raubenheimer noted this could only be cargo from a private transporter using road transportation for manganese. “TransNamib is only transporting the product on the railway line, anything beyond that is not within our scope,” said Raubenheimer.