WINDHOEK – Many Namibian holders of fishing quotas continue to be spectators of actual fishing in the country’s waters and only get involved when dividends are paid out.
This is the observation of Swapo backbencher Kazenambo Kazenambo, who is worried by the lack of active participation of some quota holders in the fishing sector.
Some quota holders have no knowledge of the entire process, from catching fish to marketing it, the outgoing Swapo MP observed.
Kazenambo said this while making his contribution to the debate on Namibia’s Executing Strategy for Industrialization Strategy termed “Growth at Home” in the National Assembly on Tuesday, motivated by Minister of Trade and Industry Calle Schlettwein.
“Like many others I am a beneficiary of fishing quotas but I have no clue on how the fishing sector works,” the former youth minister conceded.
“I do not know how the fish is caught, processed and how the markets are accessed. I am only involved when it comes to getting my money to buy a Range Rover that I will display at a funeral in Gam to be seen as being competitive against my fellow blacks.”
The industrialisation strategy focuses mainly on supporting value addition, upgrading and diversification for sustained growth, securing market access at home and abroad as well as improving the investment climate and conditions.
Statistics made public last year by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources indicate that in 2011 revenue from the fishing sector amounted to N$5.1 billion, up from the N$4.4 billion made in 2010. The sector employs more than 13 000 onshore and offshore workers.
Kazenambo wants the policy to stipulate conditions that will compel foreign-owned fishing firms to transfer skills to Namibians instead of locals being spectators and only coming into play when payments are to be made.
Kazenambo observed that most Asian states have made inroads and become industrialised in a short period because of strategies and policies they adopted, adding: “We have been here for 25 years and that does not mean we cannot correct what is not correct.”
“To be honest our knowledge starts and ends with growing your cattle and driving them from the kraal to the auction pen. From that point onwards, we do not know anything as to how the meat is processed and how much it sells for on the markets,” he said.
In 2011 the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources allocated fishing quotas of about 25 000 metric tons to 12 joint ventures formed out of 62 companies, while in the same year the Ministry of Mines and Energy dished out just over 400 EPLs (exclusive prospecting licences).
EPLs and fishing quotas have in recent years helped many black businessmen in the country to amass considerable wealth just by being spectators – all they have to do is acquire the rights, look for foreign partners with capital and sit back while the money rolls in.