New Era

Rosh Pinah is considered to be the fastest growing town in Namibia.

ROSH PINAH â€" The Skorpion Zinc Mine is being sold, but whoever would be the new owners would not have much impact on the development of the nearby town of Rosh Pinah.

The town has experienced unabated growth since this mine started its operations seven years ago in its vicinity. Before then, it was a small mining town with a relatively stable population.

The Rosh Pinah town was established with mining by the Rosh Pinah base metal mine, Exxaro, in 1972. Since then, the town's development has been in tandem with the growth of the mine.

But seven years ago, there was new impetus in its growth with the entrance of Skorpion Zinc, which initially wanted to establish its own mining residential area, but on advice of the Namibian Government, signed an agreement with Rosh Pinah Mine to develop infrastructure in the Rosh Pinah permit area, and so triggered the first spasms of development.

The town's population grew from 1Â 500 to 2Â 000 residents to about 11Â 000. This figure includes the estimated 5Â 000 to 7Â 000 residents of a fast-growing informal settlement, Tutungeni, that grew out of people trekking from all over the country in search of a job or to create small businesses to catch the disposable income of the miners.

The town now has 842 fully served erven, with a further 1Â 350 plots fully surveyed in the Tutungeni informal settlement.

Tutungeni has 24 communal water points, 48 enviro loos [environmentally friendly toilets, communally used], and according to administrative officer of RoshKor, Mauritius Gosob, the Namibian Government has invested close to N$60 million to electrify the area.

And while the Skorpion ownership hangs in the balance, both mines surrounding the town of Rosh Pinah â€" Exxaro and Scorpion Zinc â€" have shown no sign of slowing down amid the economic slump that has put other mining operations under pressure.

There have been no lay-offs, and no production holiday as was experienced in adjacent-lying Oranjemund.

In fact, said General Manager of Exxaro, Christo Asperling, the demand for lead and zinc remain steady with its European market for batteries, the Chinese car market, and now with the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup in South Africa, there has been an increase in demand for zinc from the South African-based Zincor that purchases from the mine for the construction of stadiums.

Asperling said the company will export 95 000 tonnes of zinc concentrate and 20Â 000 tonnes of lead concentrate for its financial year.

By the end of this month, the mine's board will also consider a new strategy concerning the future of Rosh Pinah.

But whatever considerations there may be, it is unlikely to dampen the growth of the town, at least for the foreseeable future.

Rosh Pinah is standing at the brink of being proclaimed a town. In June 2008 an agreement was reached with Government for the proclamation to go through within two years, but there have been delays, although it is still on the cards.

"We cannot say with confidence that the proclamation will happen within the next two years, but we are definitely driving the process aggressively," commented Gosob.

A forum consisting of RoshKor, representatives of the mines and residents was set up to be involved in discussions surrounding the changing land use options with the assistance of Stubenrauch town planning consultants.

The proclamation, said Gosob, would unleash further opportunities as commercial banks would be more willing to provide loans to businesses.

A constraint, said RoshKor's manager, Callie van Heerden, is that the electricity supply to the town has to be upgraded, which is estimated to cost between N$15 million to N$20 million.

Van Heerden said the town is considering other methods like solar or wind power to upgrade the energy supply.

Water supply â€" provided by NamWater â€" pumped from the Orange River is also expensive because it has to be pumped at an upward slope.

Notwithstanding these difficulties, the town now sports two large shopping centres, two commercial banks, Telkom and MTC telecommunications outlets, well-established businesses, two clinics (one privately owned by the mines and the other State-owned), three crÃ¨ches, one pre-primary school considered the best in Africa, and two primary schools.

Rosh Pinah will soon have a Natis office, its own magistrate's office, a mortuary, the Namibian traffic police's office will be relocated to Rosh Pinah from Oranjemund, with more police housing still to be built.

Skorpion Zinc is reportedly also planning to build a further 52 bachelor flats for its staff.

The small and medium enterprises are also growing.

Genevieve Phore of SME Compete, said there are over 83 SME's that have registered with the company, all from the informal settlement, spurring local economic development.

Plans are also afoot to start chicken and crocodile farming projects, irrigation along the riverbed of the Orange River, the cultivation of indigenous plants like hoodia, and aquaculture.

Wayne Handley from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) said the town has also become more tourism-friendly.

According to Van Heerden, around 50 tourism vehicles drive through Rosh Pinah on a daily basis.

Handley said tourism has markedly increased since the opening of the Sendelingsdrift port of entry at the Orange River in 2007.

The downside to all this development, said Handley, is increased crime and adverse impact on the fragile environment due to unchecked off-road driving and extraction of trees down to their roots for energy.

A joint safety centre â€" to be run jointly by the Namibian Police, G4Security and Eagle Night Watch â€" is to be formed to contain crime in that traditionally increase during the December holidays.

"We are inviting all investors to Rosh Pinah, to register their interest at our office to be included in our planning. And we call on residents to stay positive and partner with RoshKor to make the town a better place," said an upbeat Gosob.

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