Rudolf Gaiseb
It is the government’s objective that all green schemes operate at 100% capacity this year, Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare has said.
The administration seeks to improve the nation’s food security by planting on all the available hectares.
Addressing the National Assembly last week, Ngurare said the government also plans to introduce agro-processing facilities in all 14 regions.
This year, at least three facilities are expected in the Omusati, Kavango East, and Hardap regions.
“Through these programmes, we will be able to create hundreds of jobs for Namibians,” Ngurare said.
However, the green scheme endeavours took a few hits from opposition lawmakers who questioned the viability and the policies around it.
Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani challenged the premier, saying even if green schemes are 100% operationalised, the government will not revolutionise agriculture to create the necessary jobs and food security.
He argued that alternative initiatives, particularly in agriculture, must be developed to tackle food security and unemployment.
“What are you doing differently to attack agriculture for us to create the necessary jobs? Why is the government not introducing a policy of making our desert green? Design a hundred thousand hectares, get desalination plants and pump water, and revolutionise agriculture so that we create jobs. But now I see many of your governors calling meetings, saying, ‘Young people must bring their CVs,› but you know you don›t have the jobs to give to people. So why are you fooling the people?” Venaani said.
His view is that the government lacks the critical areas of policy formulation that transform and change the lives of the Namibian people.
In the last 100 days, the government has not initiated any policy that addresses access to potable water for the poverty-stricken Namibians, he added.
Resurgence
Earlier this year, it was reported that several green scheme projects, once regarded as white elephants, experienced a resurgence and bounced back after three years of dormancy.
The government owns 11 major green schemes across the country, including the Orange River, Etunda, Musese, Sikondo, Uvungu-Vungu, Ndonga-Linena, Mashare, Shadikongoro, Kalimbeza, and Shitemo projects.
Ngurare, in response, admitted that there was a time the schemes were not properly run.
“There is no way we will sleep peacefully, knowing that resources are pumped into these green schemes, and yet no benefits are coming out of them,” he said.
On the waterfront, he maintained, the Water Resources Management Act makes provision for all Namibians to have access to water.
Further, Ngurare advised the opposition to judge the administration based on how they are implementing projects and policies, and not what they have heard in the past.
For Ngurare, the time for political gimmicks and campaigns is over.
It is now time to deliver.
“We are under marching orders; all of us that are here in the Executive, we were given specific terms of reference, and those terms of reference [are that] we must ensure we deliver, and we will ensure we deliver; then you hold us accountable where we are not delivering,” he said.
Meanwhile, Affirmative Repositioning leader Job Amupanda weighed in and said it is good that the premier suggests the government is judged on what they deliver because “There are people who are capable in Swapo, and there are people who are extremely incapable in the same party,” Amupanda said.
He, however, sided with Venaani and hinted that 100% coverage of schemes to fully operate this year may be out of the question.
He added that the budget has been passed and there are vacant plots at some of these schemes, despite tenders being sent out by the government to request proposals.
“At Etunda Irrigation Scheme, there are 28 vacant plots. At the Musese Green Scheme, there is one vacant plot. At Ndonga-Linena, there are four vacant plots. There is another one, called ORIP [Orange River Irrigation Project], which has three vacant plots. The due date for this tender was in March. So we assume factually that they are busy with adjudication,” he stated.
“It will be an extraordinary performance for those vacant plots to go to 100% operation,” he added.
Nevertheless, Ngurare highlighted, the mandate given by the Namibian people is to serve and deliver quality service.
“Ministers are under instructions to act urgently and decisively to ensure all projects and programs are implemented. Those found wanting in this regard will be held accountable,” he added.