An investigative report by US-based watchdog group CorpWatch has implicated textile manufacturer Ramatex in the indiscriminate disposal of hazardous wastewater into Namibia’s capitol Windhoek, while also pointing the finger at the Namibian government for doing little to stop it.

According to the report, Ramatex, which opened its Namibia factories to much popular support, promising to staunch the flow of Namibia’s high unemployment rate and establish southern Africa’s largest garment factory, departed suddenly in 2008, leaving in their wake a litany of environmental damages. Supported by massive investments and infrastructure provided by the Namibian government, Ramatex was virtually untouched by the required environmental impact reports, which were either rarely conducted or largely ignored. According to business practices monitor Trade Union Solidarity Center of Finland:

The company managed to mislead Namibia (in particular the government) time and again by providing false information to hide its true intentions of using the country merely as a temporary production location.

In another call for cleanups, Ugandan General Elly Tumwine called upon his fellow citizens to better educate themselves about the risks of deforestation to preserve the national environment, which he cited as having some of “the cleanest water in Africa…because of the high number of trees we have.” He said that an educational program free of sectarian divisions would be the key to Ugandan’s understanding the importance of their environment.

Image: Anti-Tamarex editorial