Members of Parliament and stakeholders have expressed worry over the monitoring of mining activities as Namibia only has three mining inspectors.

The Mining Commissioner, Isabella Kandjii-Chirchir, confirmed that the situation is a challenge for the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Among other functions, mining inspectors conduct inspections of mining operations and recommend remedial actions.

At a mining and energy workshop for parliamentarians and stakeholders, MP Tobie Aupindi indicated that the mining sector continues to violate the dignity of workers despite the sector being among the most lucrative industries in the world.

"And the committee has proof to that because they have visited some of the mine sites and production sites where they have seen the appalling conditions in which our people are living in, and the protection of human dignity is protected within the bill of rights of the Republic of Namibia, and therefore I would want that entering into the production period, it must be, the licence must be linked to the conditions upon which operators are treating the workers, it must become a condition of the licence without negotiation, and it must be legislated within this bill."

Also contributing to the discussion at Swakopmund, Erongo Governor Neville Andre added that many upcoming mines do not provide acceptable working conditions.

"And also, they are not monitored in terms of their operations, and we do not have mining inspectors. Sometimes we go with different stakeholders and others and we go to mining activities to see what is happening, but in general, what is happening is really unfortunate."

Both the Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy and the Mining Commissioner responded that the ministry does not have enough inspectors.

"We only have three mining inspectors in the whole country, and we are making provisions to OPM for us to recruit more inspectors because Namibia is too big. And even in our submission to say we need to have an office in all the regions where most mining activities are taking place, there was a provision to put in inspectors in those regions to especially cater to or monitor mining activities or even to visit some of those mines."

The commissioner stressed that the new structure, which will include the recruitment of inspectors, has been approved, but the ministry is still looking for funds to employ people.