Full report LR.pdf - DLIST Benguela

NACOMA Project – Preparation PhaseReview of Policy and Legislation Pertaining to Coastal Zone ManagementRecommendation:Dedicated coastal area legislation, underpinned and supported by a thorough publicconsultation process, could include: the notion that the coast, its natural and culturalresources and sea is owned by nobody and subject to access and enjoyment of all unlessotherwise prescribed by law; include a definition of the coastal areas for integratedcoastal management purposes; include a set of coastal area management principles;provide for the development of coastal management plans to be incorporated intorelevant planning laws of Namibia and related matters.5.5 Pollution control and waste management laws.Namibia does not have any framework legislation dealing with pollution and wastemanagement generally. However there are a number of statutes dealing with pollution ona sectoral basis. The main ones are:5.5.1 Atmospheric pollution, the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Ordinance,Ordinance 11 of 1976, which is dedicated to combating air pollution;5.5.2 Freshwater pollution, the Water Act, Act 54 of 1956 provides for thesetting of effluent discharge standards for both sea and freshwater and forthe prevention of water pollution;5.5.3 Land based pollution: the Minerals (Prospecting and Mining) Act, Act33of 1992 contains no environmental provisions and nothing on waste orpollution management. Similarly, the Diamond Act, Act 13 of 1999contains no such provisions. This is in stark contrast to the equivalentSouth African legislation, the Mineral and Petroleum DevelopmentResources Act, and is of paramount importance in the current context ofmining developments in the Namib coastal areas 6 .5.5.4 Marine Pollution: The South African Dumping at Sea Control Act,Act73 of 1980 was never extended to Namibia. This remains a deficiency.The Marine Resources Act, Act 27 of 2000 includes an empoweringprovision enabling the Minister to make regulations:6 Much of Sperrgebiet coastal areas south of Lüderitz are subject to intensive open-cast diamondmining that causes large-scale surface damage. For more details on current developments in the Namibcoastal areas, please refer to the Report “Rapid Assessment of the Development Plans, BiodiversityConservation Projects and Socio-Economic Situation of the Namib Coastal Regions”.23