Adam Hartman
13 November 2008
TOURISM companies operating in the Namib-Naukluft Park are worried about the potential impact of the prospective Etango Uranium Mine on the industry.
The Etango project has been earmarked by the Australian mining company Bannerman Mining Resources to become the next major mine in the Erongo Region.
It will be similar to Roessing Uranium's open pit, and is expected to start in 2011, and operate for about 15 years.
It will be situated 35 km east of Swakopmund, just after the Goanikontes turn-off and the main lookout points of the Moon Landscape and the Swakop River.
The area is considered a "high-profile tourism area", particularly because of these landscapes, and the nearby Welwitschia fields.
The operations will be in full sight of anyone travelling in the area.
Certain access routes to the Moon Landscape and Welwitschia Fields will be closed because of the operation, forcing tourism operators to take detours and even eliminate some areas from their itineraries.
At a recent public meeting at Swakopmund where the project's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was presented, tourism companies recommended that a value assessment of the economic impact of the mine on tourism should be included in the EIA.
"There will be impacts; there's no denying, but we will have to weigh it against the positive impacts," said Peter Christians of Bannerman Mining.
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