The Daure Daman Traditional Authority does not want a repeat of what happened when mines in its area of jurisdiction closed down.

The Traditional Authority says the mine closures led to wanton joblessness and poverty within the community.

It says it is not against national projects in its area but has re-iterated that priority must be given to locals.

The leader of the Daure Daman Traditional Authority, Gaob Zacharias Seibeb, made reference to the closure of the Uis Tin Mine in 1991, which led to a massive loss of employment and an exodus of people from Uis.

He said the community was left with no economic opportunities in the town.

"The latest of the communities that were not there are San and people from Zambezi, and now they are there as part of the community. Some of them were born there and turned 60, and if I am talking about the community, I am talking about all those who were left after the closure of mines and have shared the same hardships as the indigenous community. There is no fear of excluding other Namibians, like we are on an island that cannot be touched. If one house has something, the next house must also benefit; otherwise, it will not serve the purpose. I will not allow it."

The management of Daures Green Hydrogen Village said the concerns of the Daure Daman Traditional Authority are being addressed.

Business Operations Manager in the Daures GH Village, Martin Nambundunga, says, "When we started, we were with the Traditional Authority, and they guided us. We call the Chief the granddad of the project, he is our tatekulu for the project. We refer to the project as the child, and this child was born in Daures, raised in Daures together with us as brothers, but what happened is that when the project became a reality and we started with engagements in the constituency, calls came in asking why other TAs do not have equity and they are also under Daures constituency, like Omatjete and Okombahe, and we always explained. What we have done is that during construction, we went out on public tender and gave the opportunity to all Namibian contractors to be the lead, and we highlighted that they should prioritise employment from the Daures constituency, and we also have a working group."

The Daures Green Hydrogen Village is one of the nine projects currently under development in Namibia.