AfrOil: Namibian minister blasts foreign critics of Kavango exploration

Namibia’s Energy Minister Tom Alweendo has expressed frustration with critics of the country’s plans to move forward with oil and gas exploration, asserting that much of the opposition to these plans comes from foreign countries that have already benefited from hydrocarbon development.

“They did drill just like we are drilling, and when their economy grew where it has grown, where they created the wealth they needed to have and have developed their people, now suddenly they are telling us: ‘Stop doing that,’” he remarked during an Energy Ministry information session in Kavango East.

Alweendo was in Kavango East to discuss ongoing exploration activities by ReconAfrica, a Canadian company that is seeking oil and gas within the PEL 73 licence area in north-eastern Namibia. The project has attracted criticism from environmental activists and some residents of the area. The minister acknowledged that projects such as PEL 73 did entail a certain amount of risk to the environment but insisted that the country’s government had taken the necessary precautions.