The Environmental Clearance Certificate renewal is for: Mining and Quarrying Activities - Activity 3.2 - Other forms of mining or extraction of any natural resources whether regulated by law or not. Activity 3.3 - Resource extraction, manipulation, conservation and related activities. Activity 8.4 - Construction of canals and channels including the diversion of the normal flow of water in a riverbed and water transfer schemes between water catchments and impoundments. Activity 8.8 - Construction and other activities in watercourses within flood lines. Activity 8.9 - Construction and other activities within a catchment area. Hazardous Substance Treatment, Handling and Storage Activity 9.4 - The storage and handling of dangerous goods, including petrol, diesel, liquid petroleum gas or paraffin, in containers with a combined capacity of more than 30 cubic meters at any one location. 2.1 Title of Activity: Existing Sand Mining Activity within the Okahandja River and Brick Manufacturing on Portion 331, Okahandja. 2.2 Location of Activity: The area where the mining of sand is taking place is located in the Okahandja River adjacent to Portion 331, Protion75 and Portion 76 of the Farm Okahandja Town and Townlands No. 57. It is situated approximately 2.5 km south-east of the Okahandja central business district within the Otjiozondjupa Region. 2.3 Nature of the Activity: Operations applicable to this application consist of the excavation of sand from the Okahandja River, screening of sand, temporary stockpiling of sand at a facility adjacent to the Okahandja River and the loading of material on trucks for transportation to various locations in the areas surrounding Okahandja, which includes Windhoek. Furthermore brick manufacturing activities take place on Portion 331. The manufacturing process involves among others the use of significant quantities of water and cement. A diesel fuel tank is located on-site for sand mining and brick manufacturing operations. 2.4 Scale and scope of Activity: With respect to the existing sand mining activity, the last 3 years amounted to an average rate of 250m³ of sand production per month. This is mainly due to a decrease in demand (the availability of poached sand for lower prices in the market) and because of the Covid-19 pandemic, non-essential services were not operational. The scope of the existing sand mining activities entails the following - Removal and storage of the overburden; Excavation of sand with excavators; Removal from site to the screen; Passing excavated sand through screens to separate sand and stones; and Loading of sand on tipper trucks and subsequent transport. With respect to the existing brick manufacturing activities, at full production (i.e. maximum production), the facility is capable of manufacturing approximately 500 000 bricks/month, but are currently working below maximum due to a lack of demand. The scope of the existing brick manufacturing activities entails the following - Batching - the sand and stone is mixed with the cement and water to the desired consistency. Molding - with the aid of a machine, the mixture is molded into brick molds. Curing - curing is the process of maintaining the required moisture content at an optimal temperature to allow bricks to attain the required strength. The bricks are transported to end-users either by the proponent, or by the end-users themselves. Services: Access to the sand mining quarry and brick manufacturing facility is obtained via an existing gravel road and associated road access to the A1 road (Okahandja-Windhoek Road). Water for brick manufacturing operations only is obtained from a borehole under the ownership of Makalani Bricks and Sand cc. Electricity for brick manufacturing operations only is obtained from the Okahandja Municipality. On-site staff (13 in total), live within a 1.5 km radius from the premises. Staff makes use of the ablutions and cooking facilities located at the quarry facilities adjacent the river.