Namibia: Stern Warning for Off-Roaders
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
4 August 2008
Posted to the web 4 August 2008
Adam Hartman
Government will not hesitate to ban all off-road driving on State land if off-roaders continue to wreak environmental havoc in the coastal areas, Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said in Walvis Bay last week.
"Those who come to our coast and behave as if this is a lawless and freelance area - some of them are our own people, and some from the outside - are warned that we will not tolerate behaviour which is detrimental to our principle of sustainable development," she said.
She said Government did not want to ban all off-road activities but, if the environment continued to be degraded, Government would not hesitate to put the brakes on.
"We instead want to reap the benefits of well-maintained, well-coordinated off-road driving activities," she said.
James Tromp of Desert Explorers Adventure Centre, who heard the Minister speak, said her remarks were "unfair".
Tromp has offered organised quad-bike excursions into the Namib Desert for over 10 years.
"We are all being tarred with the same brush.
"Why must I get a hiding if another person messes up? The Minister's remarks were broad and this is a major concern to us," he told The Namibian.
Tromp said he had been planning to invest more money in his tourism operation, but would now have to hold back because of an "uncertain future".
He said numerous meetings on coastal management, co-ordinated by Nacoma, have always been held in the light of mutual benefit, creating a sense of optimism for the future.
"Us operators - be it quad-bike or surf-fishing - were looking forward to the plans set forth for sustainable management within our coastal region.
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Now the Minister has put us back in a place of uncertainty," he stated.
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