A group of aggrieved community members under the banner of the Tsumeb Aitsama Madan development project have taken to the streets, reportedly against the exclusion of youth in the employment of the BioMass Plant.

The project is currently under construction along the Tsumeb-Oshivelo road.

The group chairperson, Liezel Nanis, said the Biomass Project overlooked locals as general workers.

"We therefore demand that the Tsumeb community be accorded the courtesy to be represented and on board at the senior management level of the biomass project, particularly the HR department, and that a permanent office be established onsite to promote transparency during recruitment," she said. "That our representatives on the Biomas project be tasked to create a skills database of Tsumeb unemployed residents and local economic empowerment associated with the Biomas project. That no Chinese national is allowed to perform labour that can be performed by local general workers from Tsumeb."

The petition was received by the company's Public Relations Manager. Uuta Uugwanga.

"I can guarantee you that we are also addressing issues related to misinformation. We will make all that information available to you through the HR personnel who are currently on site. The subcontractors are all from Tsumeb. The information is there. We will provide all this relevant information to you whenever you need it. And labour hires, I don't know where that information came from, but we all provide all that information."

The group has given the company seven working days to respond to the petition.