More than 4 000 register for 600 job opportunities at NMP’s Sandpiper project

27th October 2020 By: Simone Liedtke - Creamer Media Social Media Editor & Senior Writer

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Project developer Namibian Marine Phosphate’s (NMP’s) job registration drive has received an “overwhelming response”, with more than 4 000 registrations recorded within the first two weeks.

Speaking to media on October 27, CEO Chris Jordinson said the sheer number of registrations was likely owing to Namibia’s high unemployment rate, which is above 30%.

The next steps of the registration drive will involve a series of information workshops to be implemented and hosted from March 2021. The workshops are intended to provide registrants with details about the project’s technical, environmental and development aspects, along with the related job opportunities.

In the interim, however, Jordinson said NMP “would be in contact with all registrants” to keep them up to date on the progress of the drive.

The registration process, which ends on November 30, will see 600 applicants employed at NMP’s Sandpiper marine phosphate project in Walvis Bay, in Namibia, which NMP intends to develop, assuming there is a favourable judgment on the legal action taken by three fishing associations and a commercial fishing company, and the granting of the environmental clearance certificate.

An outcome for this legal process is anticipated in 2021, said Jordinson, noting, however, that no plan of action had been set in stone, should the outcome not favour NMP.

Despite the legal challenge, and once project permitting is completed, Jordinson is confident that NMP’s Sandpiper project will “be the starting block” for a prominent fertiliser industry for Namibia.

So far, NMP has, in accordance with Environment Management Act requirements, spent over N$20-million in completing an extensive environmental study, including an environmental-impact assessment, a verification study, an environmental management plan and 28 independent specialist scientific studies.