WALVIS BAY – Revised figures indicate the government generated N$575 million in revenue from the governmental objective quota auctioned last year.
Under the objective quota, the government auctioned off hake, horse mackerel and monk to the highest bidder to generate much-needed revenue for the country.
This is according to a statement on the final standings of the auction conducted by the fisheries and finance ministries. Spokesperson for the
finance ministry Wilson Ashikoto indicated the ministries, going forward, would release the results of each auction shortly after it is held.
A total of N$165 million was generated during the first auction of 13 164 metric tons of hake that went on auction on 16 April last year, while the supplementary auction of 2 748mt generated N$33.6 million, according to the statement.
A further 14 000mt of hake was auctioned on 3 December and generated N$158.4 million in revenue. The 392mt of monk generated N$4.3 million.
A total of 55 200mt of horse mackerel was auctioned during the first auction on 18 June last year and generated N$124.8 million. A further 32 300mt of horse mackerel was auctioned during the supplementary auction and generated N$89.4 million.
Ashikoto also explained that supplementary auctions refer to the sale of the shortfall amounts that were not taken up at the primary auction. “Government does not undertake another round of advertisements for the supplementary auction, however, market players are always welcome to express their interest to take up the unsold quota on a first-come basis at the average price determined in the primary auction,” he said. The announcement comes days after the Cabinet directed the fisheries minister, Derek Klazen to allocate 51 317mt of horse mackerel to at least 12 bidders, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who were unable to catch the quotas they bought on auction last year. Ashikoto, however, yesterday indicated that this development does not necessarily impact the revenue generated from last years’ auctions.
“From our perspective, the funds will be accounted for as part of revenue for the year in which the proceeds were paid into the state revenue fund. That is, for the 2021/22 financial year, ending on 31 March this year,” he said.
Ashikoto also indicated that the hake auction for this year was already conducted in December 2021, well ahead of the commencement of the 2022 fishing season. “The auctions for the other fishing species also will be advertised shortly,” he explained yesterday. Klazen indicated that about 8 000mt of horse mackerel might only be available for auction this year and that this will indeed negatively impact government’s revenue for the next financial year. However, he said the figure is still to be verified by his officials. “This has a serious impact on our revenue, but as a caring government, we took it in cognisance that people have invested money during the auction.
The lateness of the auction as well as other factors beyond our control were a major factor in the government’s decision to award the quotas from this year’s governmental objective quota,” he said. Based on this, he said Cabinet needed to act fairly and reasonably and met the bidders halfway by awarding a new horse mackerel fishing quota to all the bidders whose quota was not caught during the fishing season of 2021.
“This is a once-off decision. It will not happen again as long as I am a minister. I will not allow it to happen again but it was due to reasons beyond our control and that is why we decided to have the auction for the remaining quota on time.” – edeklerk@nepc.com.na