Environmental Scoping, Impact Assessment and Management Plan for Building Works to Alleviate Congestion at Hosea Kutako International Airport, Khomas Region, Namibia
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ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING, IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR BUILDING WORKS TO ALLEVIATE CONGESTION AT HOSEA KUTAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, KHOMAS REGION, NAMIBIA 06 December 2019 Prepared by: Prepared for: On behalf of: CONTACT DETAILS Mr Jan-Hendrik Engelbrecht Director Nexus Building Contractors (Pty) Ltd P.O. Box 150 Outjo Namibia Tel: +264 67 313770 Fax: +264 67 313768 E-mail: [email protected] Mr Scott Richards Project Manager Lithon Project Consultants (Pty) Ltd P.O. Box 40902 Ausspannplatz Windhoek Namibia Tel: +264 61 250278 Fax: +264 61 250279 E-mail: [email protected] Mr Bisey /Uirab Chief Executive Officer Namibia Airports Company P.O. Box 23061 Windhoek Namibia Tel: +264 61 2955001 Fax: +264 61 2955022 E-mail: [email protected] Dr Lima Maartens LM Environmental Consulting P.O. Box 1284 Windhoek Namibia Tel: +264 61 255750 Fax: 088 61 9004 E-mail: [email protected] Declaration: LM Environmental Consulting is an independent consulting firm with no interest in the project which is the subject matter hereof other than to fulfil the contract between the client and the consultant for delivery of specialised services as stipulated in the terms of reference. Limitation of liability: LM Environmental Consulting accept no responsibility or liability in respect of losses, damages or costs suffered or incurred, directly or indirectly, under or in connection with this report to the extent that such losses, damages, and costs are due to information provided to LM Environmental Consulting for purposes of this report that is subsequently found to be inaccurate, misleading or incomplete, or due to the acts or omissions of any person other than ourselves. LM Environmental Consulting shall not be liable for any direct, incidental, special or consequential damages for loss of profit, revenue, data or use incurred by the Client or any third party, whether in contract or delict, regardless whether the Client or the other party has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Copyright Warning: Unless otherwise noted, the copyright in all text and other matter (including the manner of presentation) is the exclusive property of LM Environmental Consulting and/or Dr Maartens. It is an offence to reproduce and/or use, without written consent, any substance, matter, technical procedure and/or technique or part thereof contained in this document. ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations: Environmental Management Act 7 of 2007, Nexus Building Contractors (Pty) Ltd, on behalf of Lithon Project Consultants (Pty) Ltd and the Namibia Airports Company (NAC), appointed LM Environmental Consulting to conduct an Environmental Scoping and to prepare an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the building works to alleviate congestion at Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) (i.e. to double the handling capacity of HKIA to accommodate increased passenger numbers up until 2030). Building works, i.e. the expansion and renovation of the Terminal 2 Check-In Area, Departure and Arrival Halls, and Retail Areas and the relocation and construction of Storage Facilities, will be done in five phases. It is foreseen that the building works will be completed within 12 months; the various phases can and will run concurrently to facilitate the fast track nature of the Project. During peak times of the construction phase, there will be between 400 and 600 people on site. Two thirds of the staff will be sub-contractors/temporary staff; 10 to 15% of the work force will be female. Some 50% of the staff (~250 people) will be housed in a construction worker camp on NAC grounds for the duration of the construction phase. As part of the Environmental Assessment process, physical, biophysical and socio-economic baselines were compiled. It should be noted that the building works, apart from the construction of the Storage Facilities, will take place in already built-up areas. Also, the construction worker camp is located in an area previously disturbed. An overview of the most pertinent legislation pertaining to the construction phase of the Project is provided. A Public Consultation Programme was also conducted. Only three persons registered as Interested and/or Affected Parties (I&APs) and no issues or concerns related to the Project have been raised. The Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix Software Package was used for the assessment of the potential impacts. Scoring takes place within a matrix, the latter that was designed to allow subjective judgements to be quantitatively recorded. The system thus provides an impact evaluation, as well as a record that can be re- assessed in the future (e.g. should more information become available). The building works to alleviate congestion at HKIA, and including the operational construction worker camp, will have potential impacts on the environment and these will be of a positive, as well as a negative nature: the major negative, significant negative, negative, and slight negative impacts can be relatively easily mitigated through the implementation of certain management measures. It is the opinion of LM Environmental Consulting that the Project, and apart from being in National interest, is feasible, given that: i) the use of semi-purified water (for the building works and dust suppression) is optimised; ii) the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) does not allow informal settlers on NAC-grounds, especially in the vicinity of the Puma Energy Millennium Service Station and the construction worker camp; and iii) Nexus Building Contractors (Pty) Ltd strictly enforces their construction worker camp rules. It is advised that Nexus Building Contractors (Pty) Ltd (and their employees and sub-contractors) should implement and observe the Environmental Management Plan on an ongoing basis. Environmental performance should be regularly monitored (so that the lessons learnt can be incorporated into the improvement of the Environmental Management Plan over time) and corrective measures taken as or when required. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................. 10 1.2 Activities Requiring Environmental Clearance ............................................................................ 11 1.3 Terms of Reference .................................................................................................................... 11 1.4 Environmental Assessment Practitioner and Specialist Team ................................................... 11 2 Description of the Project ................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Project Location .......................................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Land Use ..................................................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Access ......................................................................................................................................... 13 2.4 Project Rationale ......................................................................................................................... 13 2.5 Project Activities .......................................................................................................................... 14 2.5.1 Terminal 2 ....................................................................................................................... 14 2.5.2 Terminal 1 ....................................................................................................................... 18 2.5.3 Contractor’s Site Camp ................................................................................................... 19 2.5.4 Construction Worker Camp ............................................................................................. 19 2.5.5 Engineering Services ...................................................................................................... 21 2.5.6 Solid Waste Management ............................................................................................... 21 2.5.7 Raw Materials ................................................................................................................. 22 2.6 Alternatives .................................................................................................................................. 22 3 Natural Environment ........................................................................................................................... 23 3.1 Physical Environment .................................................................................................................. 23 3.1.1 Regional Setting .............................................................................................................. 23 3.1.2 Climate ............................................................................................................................ 23 3.1.3 Archaeology .................................................................................................................... 24 3.1.4 Geology, Hydrology and Hydrogeology .......................................................................... 24