Cape Town: The Green Connection has welcomed the decision by Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE), to refuse Karpowership SA’s request for condonation and extension of its application for Environmental Authorisation for its project in Saldanha Bay.
Karpowership was named a preferred bidder in government's Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme in 2021, to provide over 1 200MW of power from floating gas-power vessels located at the ports of Richards Bay, Saldanha and Coega
Green Connection’s Community Outreach Coordinator Neville van Rooy said news of the department’s decision came this week, as civil society organisations were making inquiries with a view to challenge any DFFE decision to give Karpowership an opportunity to amend their Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports for Richards Bay.
DFFE confirmed, in a letter to The Green Connection, that the EIA application was now deemed withdrawn and the application was closed.
Subsequently, it has come to light that the DFFE has refused Karpowerships’ condonation application. Karpowership withdrew its EIA report on April 26 and on the same date applied for condonation in an attempt to address its shortcomings.
"As an eco-justice organisation that works with the small-scale fishers who will be most affected by the presence of Karpowerships in the bay, The Green Connection is pleased that Karpowership has received yet another refusal in Saldanha.
“However, while it is good news that the Department has refused to give Karpowership yet another bite at the cherry, Karpowership has submitted an appeal against the condonation refusal decision. We are studying the appeal and consulting with our legal team, with a view to submitting an appeal-respondent statement in due course," said van Rooy.
He said that Karpowerships cannot alleviate the energy situation for this winter because it takes between six and twelve months to build shore-to-ship infrastructure, and that is only after they have gotten all their approvals.
“And on top of that, these vessels could harm the ocean and thereby affect small-scale fishermen and other coastal livelihoods. In a country crippled by unemployment, this does not seem like a sensible move.”
Solene Smith, a small-scale fisher from Coastal Links Saldanha, said: "I want to reiterate my disappointment about how Karpowerships have been dealing with us as small-scale fishers and the coastal communities who rely on the ocean. We were not invited to the follow-up meeting with Triplo4 about the public participation processes.
“It seems only commercial fishermen were invited to the meeting. As small-scale fishers, we will continue to oppose Karpowerships because the area they want to moor is of great significance to us in terms of our heritage. Additionally, these ships will pose a threat to our fishing environment."
Attempts to contact Karpowership were unsuccessful.
Weekend Argus