By Guy Rogers

Graaff-Reinet‘s Samara Private Game Reserve says a proposal to drill on its land to check for gas deposits could have serious social, environmental and economic repercussions if it is approved.

But even before these issues could be properly investigated the public needed more information on what was planned, and an opportunity to consider the project before responding, said Samara‘s attorney Derek Light.

Light said the process adopted so far by the developer was unfair in administrative terms.

“We have hardly any information yet. We are trying to get this data from the applicants, to enable us to make an informed decision.

"At this stage, there is too little information to allow us to participate properly.

“One needs this information, and then time to digest it in terms of not just Samara but also tourism in the whole region, and how many jobs in this sustainable, established industry will be affected.”

One of the missing facts is how much Samara land the Australian-owned Bundu Gas & Oil company has earmarked for its project.

Its application to the minerals and energy department was for 35 000ha, however, and it was believed that a “large chunk” of this belonged to Samara, Light said.

Samara, one of the biggest private game reserves in South Africa, stretches 28 000ha across the Camdeboo plains and Sneeuberg mountains.

It was named in 2006 among the top 60 best new hotels in the world by exclusive magazine Conde Nast Travel and, in the same year, among the top 50 most romantic destinations in the world, in Travel & Leisure magazine.

The concerns about environmental damage revolve around icon species like 700-year-old shepherd trees, 250-million-year-old fossils and efforts that have been made to reintroduce threatened indigenous game like cheetah and brown hyena.

It was also unlikely that the Karoo veld could be rehabilitated after being torn up, Light said.

Samara is owned by UK-registered company Woolhead Holdings.

The company is owned by British citizen Mark Thompkins, who is married to South African Sarah Thompkins.

In terms of South African law, minerals are owned by “the people”, who in turn are represented by the government.

Bundu was therefore within its rights to apply to the government for the exploration right, although the land was privately owned, he said.

“The sustainability of this project is also highly questionable, if one looks back at the previous unsuccessful efforts to find gas in this area.

"So we must be sure we do not destroy the existing sustainable jobs in the tourism industry for a project that does not come to anything.

“There is a minerals right, but there are also landowner, environmental and social upliftment rights.

"This application has to be dealt with responsibly. The good must outweigh the bad.”

The application was now with the department and the developer had been instructed to consult with all affected parties and to undertake an environmental management programme outlining the envisaged project and the rehabilitation process.

All Light had been told was that a meeting would be held on Thursday.

Bundu spokesman Peter Price, a Johannesburg-based mining engineer, has argued that the project will have “little or no effect on the environment”.

Source: The Herald