The Walvis Bay lagoon is at the centre of a stormy debate between the town's tourism development council and conservationists. The former wants to develop a restaurant-coffee shop-tourism centre near the water body to "enhance the city's attractiveness as a tourist destination'. But the Coastal Environmental Trust of Namibia (cetn), a non-governmental organisation, points out that the proposed centre would spell the lagoon's doom.

Matters came to a head recently when the council gave a green light to an entrepreneur to advertise the sale of a portion of the land. cetn chairperson Keith Wearne has warned that no development should take place close to the lagoon