Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources, Tjekero Tweya has accused Government of deliberately excluding Namibians from participating in mining with the current application fees to acquire a mining license.

Tweya expressed this position in Swakopmund yesterday during the oversight Workshop on Maximising the Potentials of the Mining and Energy Sectors in Namibia.

An Exclusive Prospecting License (EPL) ranges between N.dollars 2 000 for 20 000 hectares to N.dollars 10 000 for 100 000 hectares.

According to Tweya, the mining application fees were increased “on purpose to make sure Namibians do not take part”, adding it is too expensive.

He said the committee will deal with the issue and suggested that the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) review the current fees to consider Namibians who are unemployed and must rely on those particular resources that would at least change their lives through strategic partners that would help them.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency