N$4
namib times
SERVING THE COASTAL COMMUNITY SINCE 1958 NO 6876 FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020 Tel: +264 64 - 205854 / +264 64 - 461866 /Fax: +264 64 - 204813 / 064 - 461824 / Website: www.namibtimes.net
Auctioning of fish quotas:
Dr Kawana’s side of the story *Industry players feel fall-out “very selective” over quota auction a sign the Floris Steenkamp Fisheries Minister, Dr Albert Kawana, is accused of being “selective” with the truth when it comes to the debacle around the auctioning of Government Objective fish quotas to the highest bidder. Dr Kawana, in a statement on Wednesday, took objection to allegations he has not consulted the fishing industry on the issue of auctioning the quotas and that the auction would create another opportunity for #Fishrot. The fishing industry on the contrary says Dr Kawana is not consulting with industry at all. Not consulting the industry on the Government Objective fish quotas is the norm and not the exception. Industry maintains the auctioning opens avenues for corruption to the likes of #Fishrot and that offering quotas on auction to foreigners is betraying the local fishing industry. “Perhaps the most important lesson both we as an industry and Government can learn from this latest debacle around the auctioning of the fish quotas, is that the days are gone where Government can take an arrogant stance and simply steamroller policies over the industry. The industry must just roll with the punches, keep up and keep quiet. The moment you speak up, punishment awaits you at the next rights allocations or quota allocations”, an independent stakeholder observed yesterday morning. This stakeholder lauds the Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations (CNFA), which on Tuesday (11 August), in a statement said, “the general sentiment is very negative regarding such auction without attending first to the current needs of local operators, particularly those land-based factories that
Continues on page 2
Curfew
Residents in the special dispensation local authority areas of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Arandis must ensure to honour the curfew that is in place since one minute past midnight on Thursday morning. Up to midnight on 28 August, all residents are urged to be at home by 20:00 daily and are only allowed to leave their places of residence after 05:00 the next day. Essential services workers and where people have to move from their places of residence in the event of an emergency will be allowed. The curfew was announced by President Hage Geingob on Wednesday and is in place to curb the spread of the Coronavirus. People continue to ignore the rules around public- and private gatherings. People go out into crowds to drink or attend house parties in their dozens. The curfew has been instituted to curb people movement at night and in doing so assist to curb the further spread of the virus.The same is applicable to the City of Windhoek.
fishing industry no more going to take Fisheries Ministry sitting.
inside
Betterect and RGM: an uplifting and long-standing collaboration
Page 4
“Moet hul nie uitsmyt Seaflower Pelagic Processing gets “meagre” nie” 4 000 tons h/m quota *Asks for rational decisionmaking and true consultation.
“Not enough to sustain us until 31 December 2020” - workers Workers at Seaflower Pelagic Processing at Walvis Bay say they are deeply disappointed in the horse mackerel quota of 4 000 tons Government approved to preserve their jobs until the end of the year. “The quota has to last the company until 31 December. Seaflower Pelagic Processing has been designed and built to work 100 000 tons of horse mackerel per annum. The 4 000 tons would last only a few weeks and then we are back on the streets. We also face yet another uncertainty as to what would our situation be beyond 31 December”, workers told Namib Times. Seaflower Pelagic Processing is the biggest fish processor in Walvis Bay. It employs 655 people. The factory of Seaflower Pelagic Processing has been established on the premises of the former Etale Fishing in Walvis Bay, in terms of a Co-operation Agreement between the Namibian Government and the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor). In the agreement Government committed a 100 000 tons annual horse mackerel quota to Seaflower Pelagic Processing. However, with the #Fishrot scandal that came to light in the closing months of 2019, the annual quota has not been allocated to Seaflower Pelagic Processing in Walvis Bay for 2020. The Company is viewed as part and parcel of Seaflower Lüderitz, which is allegedly part of the #Fishrot scandal. Seaflower Pelagic Processing in Walvis Bay says it has no connection with Seaflower Lüderitz whatsoever and is entitled to this 100 000 annual quota in terms of the fishing agreement.
Page 5
Pre-primêre speelpark vir NPS
Page 6
Sports News Page 12