OMUTHIYA - The Ondonga Traditional Authority (OTA) has raised concern about the increasing of unrehabilitated sand mining burrow pits along the B1 road in the region.

OTA representative Martin Elago at the Omuthiya constituency consultation workshop held on Wednesday in Omuthiya in the Oshikoto region, raised the concern of sand mining burrow pits as it poses a threat to both humans and animals.

Elago said they understand that everyone wants to build, but they should also consider the safety of people and animals as they leave unrehabilitated burrow pits.

“We urge all contractors not to leave the pits unrehabilitated or fenced off so they do not pose a danger to the community,” said Elago.

He also urged parastatals and companies that award tenders to contactors to enforce that they abide by the rules and policies that are stipulated in the contracts as to what they should do and what not to do in terms of rehabilitating pits.

Elago stated that Roads Authority awards tenders to contractors and should be responsible for the enforcement.

“The regional council, local authority, and traditional authority should keep an eye on burrow pits and report them to the relevant authorities,” Elago said. He said there are many pits in the northwestern part of Ondonga and a few up north at Oniipa town.

“There are many but we cannot give a figure because some are closed while others are still not rehabilitated but we have a lot in the Omuthiya surrounding,” said Elago.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) hosted the workshop with the agenda of strategic environmental assessment of the integrated regional land use plan for Oshikoto. The objective of the workshop was to help the consultants, regional council, and MAWLR to have the three flags put around the surroundings.

The three flags are the red, which means danger, the yellow meaning you can tamper with caution and the green flag represents the entry zone. - Nampa