Letter to the Editor

A recent article about the rights of coastal communities to have their say about controversial developments that will impact them, does not sit well with others who believe commercial interests should take precedence for a country to thrive.

Dear Editor,

Here we go again! I am so sick and tired of the disingenuity of the many people and so-called organisations harping about their loss of benefits from necessary developments that will create valid businesses earning profits for the investors and participants, tax for the fiscus, and create many steady jobs for those (few I am afraid) who want a secure job now and into their future.

Read Nothing For Us Without Us!

Can they not understand that for our country to succeed, we have to vastly improve our gross earning capacity per person (GDP) and so avoid inevitable state bankruptcy. No; I am afraid they find it more important on a personal level to see their name in print, no matter how their attitudes and practices may be harming the needed development of the area’s peoples, most particularly that of the under-privileged.

I am no expert when it comes to evaluating inland areas as to their worthiness and value as suitable agricultural terrain. However, knowing, worked, and having travelled through the Namaqualand and Northern Cape areas for many years of my life, I am well aware, in most areas, how poor it is for meaningful agricultural use, and how much is not used at all.

Surely, its inhabitants realise that in our fast-growing modern world, the excuse of they and their families having lived there for generations, cannot be reasonable in the light of the value of say what mining would bring to the area. This would afford them far more remunerative opportunity in jobs or business, and attract far more people to swell the ranks of employed persons earning good salaries.

Then, we come to fishing, where I can claim an extremely high level of expertise, having both invested and personally worked there, as well as mining diamonds inshore for many years. Please ask the objectors to explain to me how any type mining or offshore fishing can or would impede their present activities, particularly as limited as they already are? I am also told that the Port Nolloth Fishing Co-op is a far cry from being in any form a success with a myriad of problems.

I, like anybody else with a brain in their head, are extremely encouraged, when I hear of WWF and Nedbank’s work and commitment to learn about, educate, and help develop local communities in the region. However, they must guard against becoming too influenced by local demands that may cause them to ignore the benefits of outside developments such as the creation of any type of mining, including that of Rare Sands and Earth.

Jack Walsh