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Residents of Onashiku sha Laban village near Oshakati in the Oshana region are up in arms over a sand mining site allegedly operating in an area where their ancestors are buried.

Some residents are opposing the operations of the Onashiku Sand Mining company, claiming that their ancestors were buried at the site. This follows recent discoveries of a human skull and jawbone in a pile of sand mined at the site.

“They are digging up the skeletons of our ancestors, which is not good… Our ancestors will get lost, and they are not giving them respect,” Ruben Ankama, a resident who is part of the group which opposes the sand mining, said in an interview with Nampa.

Meanwhile, the Namibian Police’s Oshana regional commander, Commissioner Naftal Sakaria confirmed that their investigative and forensic officials visited the site after the reported discoveries of a human skull and jawbone in a pile of sand there.

He said the discovery was made by a factory worker based in Ondangwa, who was manufacturing bricks from a pile of sand delivered by a truck from Onashiku Sand Mining last month. 

“There were apparently graves way
back, and those graves have since disappeared. When they took their sand, they ended up at the place where the graves were. However, they were now told not to go further in the direction of where the graves were,” the officer said.

Sakaria noted that the police are currently looking into the bones which were collected, but no forensic information has been available thus far.

Another resident, speaking anonymously, questioned whether an environmental study was done before allowing the sand mining, stressing that the community was not consulted prior to the operation.

“Some of us don’t even know where our grandparents were buried. Therefore, you never know, maybe it is my grandparents. Up until today, there was no meeting called by village leaders to communicate
anything about the findings… That is pure disrespect to our ancestors. Something of that nature happens, but it is like we don’t care,” she fumed.

Uukwambi Traditional Authority
(UTA) administrator Kasimi Ka Ashuulu told Nampa the site has been operating since June 2022 as per environmental clearance issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT).

“Regarding the bones found; it has not come to my attention. However, the mine is supervised by the authority as the
custodians of the certificate,” he added.

Ka Ashuulu indicated that the money collected through the mine is divided 50/50 by the UTA and the villagers for developmental projects.

MEFT public relations officer Romeo Muyunda indicated that the ministry
issued an environmental clearance certificate (ECC) for 2022-2025 for the site. 

There have also been regular inspections, but the ministry is not aware of complaints from the community nor their
concerns.

“The activity has undergone a public consultation stage, in particular the Onashiku sha Laban village, before the certificate was issued. Now that there is an active ECC, we advise that a formal complaint be made to the Environmental Commissioner to highlight the main issue,” he said. - Nampa