Ministry lifts mineral rights application suspension
WINDHOEK – The temporary suspension of mineral rights applications effected by the Ministry of Mines and Energy on 6 November 2020, has been lifted.
Mines and Energy minister Tom Alweendo announced this on Monday during a press conference at the ministry’s head office in Windhoek.
He said the suspension was necessitated by complaints from the public, especially applicants who complained that the ministry takes too long to reply to their applications. Therefore, the ministry concluded to review its requirements and procedures under the Minerals Act, relating to the applications for mineral rights and other provisions not included in the Act.
“The suspension has allowed the ministry to complete the process within the shortest time possible”, he added.
“The second reason for the suspension is that we realised that we received too many applications, to a point where the system could not keep up. It is a good thing that we are getting a lot of applications because we want people to explore minerals, but we also realised that it’s too many because a number of them are not accompanied by all the necessary documents, which will no longer be accepted by the system”, Alweendo explained.
The ministry has now upgraded its system to only accept applications that have all the necessary documents, because the law is also clear on what documents should be submitted when people are applying for mineral rights. “What we also did is to change the system in such a way that we computerise most of the aspects for the applicants to apply online, a system that will not require too much human intervention”, the minister stated.
Al we en do said the ministry is in the process of considering a recommendation made by the High-Level Panel on the Namibian Economy to auction mineral rights, which might give the government a fair income, noting that discussions regarding the matter are, however, still ongoing for the final decision.