Eveline de Klerk
Swakopmund
Governor of the Erongo Region Cleophas Mutjavikua says bureaucracy is of serious concern and is hampering the country’s economic development.
Mutjavikua made the remark recently at the state of the economy and mid-year budget review by the Minister of Finance, Calle Schlettwein, in Walvis Bay. A concerned Mutjavikua said approvals of multi-million dollar projects take way too much time and not only deprive the country of much-needed jobs but also scare away potential investors.
“It takes too much time to push through our projects especially in our region and this can be very detrimental to the country in terms of foreign direct investment.”
According to Mutjavikua, it took about two years for the ministry of agriculture to grant approval for the matangara factory that finally opened earlier this year at Walvis Bay.
“Some of our mines wanted to set up desalination plants at the coast but their proposals were also shot down, and the Desert Rose project is in the pipeline for years now. The same goes for the Xaris Gas plant which at the end is too much of a burden for the government,” a concerned Mutjavikua said.
However, the governor is of the opinion that these are projects that will create jobs and pave the way for economic advancement, seeing that unemployment especially among the youth is rife.
He added that investors are keen on setting up a metal smelter facility as well as a desert irrigation project in the region.
“However, the process and measures are too stringent and the approvals remain a serious concern, blocking investment. We have to move on the long road towards development and economic growth.
But with the current bureaucratic process it will be a serious challenge, even though we have excellent project proposals and investors,” he said.
He urged decision makers to be serious and avoid delaying project implementation as it will put more Namibians on the street.