iAfrica 4 weeks ago 4 min read Share with your network! “We are nothing. We are absolute zero.” This was the passionate statement from Carmelita Mostert of Saldanha Coastal Links – a community organisation established as a vehicle for small-scale fishers to secure their livelihoods and overall human rights – after hearing that the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) Barbara Creecy has been sent Triplo4’s final environmental impact assessment (EIA) report regarding Karpowerships. The report recommends that the project go ahead subject to several mitigation measures, however the mitigation measures are not mentioned. Minister Creecy now has eight weeks to decide whether the project goes ahead or not. “I am exceptionally frustrated and saddened that our pleas have fallen on deaf ears,” says Mostert. “Especially since we had a face-to-face zoom meeting with the Minister, where we raised our concerns. It is obvious that the government does not care about our communities, who literally depend on the oceans for their daily bread.”