By William Mbangula OSHAKATI The Northern Tannery at Ondangwa, one of the most ambitious projects to have fallen apart, appears to have become a “hot potato” not only for shareholders but some government institutions that previously promoted it. A brainchild of the-then Minister of Trade and Industry, Hidipo Hamutenya, the more than N$50ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ million tannery, funded through bilateral cooperation between the Chinese and Namibian governments, is now a white elephant, totally abandoned, just like a disowned child. Getting comment from relevant authorities has proven an uphill battle. This journalist was sent from pillar to post as all officials avoided the topic. The Northern Tannery was initiated by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in conjunction with local entrepreneurs, and with the Offshore Development (ODC) as the implementing agency. The idea was to help the local community sell skins and hides to the factory while business people would invest in the project as part of the development strategy for the local economy. As a result, close to 27 local business people invested a total of about N$1ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ million to help guarantee the government sourced more than N$50ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ million loan from the Chinese government. An expert from Ethiopia was appointed as the Founding Manager of the tannery. Some of the founding shareholders are: Jairus Shikale (Punyu Group of Companies), Moses Auala, Simon Mulunga, Lazarus Emvula, Albin Ilovu, Gabriel Kandjengo, Usko Nghaamwa, Jacob Vilho, Priscila Nashandi (current chairperson of the board), late Johannes Shali, Frieda Paulus, late Jacob Nangolo, Set Son Shivute, Titus Iipumbu, King Immanuel Elifas, Pineas Nambandi, Ndapanda Shiimbi, Hambeleleni Hamukwaya, Agripa Shilongo, late David Niilonga, George Nelulu, Andreas Abraham, Lisias Negonga, Gebhard Nependa and David Niilonga, and Dr Naftali Hamata (resigned founding chairperson) and Silvanus Vatuva who took over from Hamata but has since resigned. According to Vatuva, the launch of the project started in 1994 when all the potential business personalities were called together to get involved in a joint venture and help support the government in job-creation and economic development. He was the-then Regional Governor of Oshana. ” At that time, you know, I was at a strategic position whereby I could not decline the invitation by the higher authorities to participate because it may discourage some suspecting local investors that the matter may not be genuine if I did not participate as a Governor and business person. At the beginning, I was – like many of my colleagues – under the impression that the matter was genuine, hence my investment in the project through buying shares.” Vatuva complained that the project is a total failure. He is not even sure as to what happened to the more than N$1ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ million invested by the local business people. He is very bitter that his invested money has vanished into thin air. Ondangwa Town Council’s Manager for Public Affairs, Ismael Namugongo, told New Era that the closure of the tannery at the beginning of last year is a setback for the local authority in terms of payment of property rates and taxes. He also bemoaned the fact that more than 30 people – mostly residents of Ondangwa – were left jobless by the closure of the project. ” I think the board and management of the tannery need to put up a business strategy which will help revive the project. This should also include the mechanism to train people on how to handle skins and hides not to be spoiled, as was claimed by the tannery before,” said the Town Council spokesperson. Namugongo was not sure who was paying the rates and taxes on behalf of the tannery to the local authority, but this newspaper was reliably informed that this has become the responsibility of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The ministry reportedly also pays for the water, electricity and a security guard who is looking after the facilities including some of the expensive machinery which needs to be switched on every week in order to avoid becoming dormant. Reliable sources informed New Era that some of the former workers were not paid their salaries and benefits, prompting the aggrieved workers to resort to the District Labour Court for mediation. A source familiar with the project told New Era that the project initiative was a non-starter right at the beginning because there was not enough operational capital for a factory of that magnitude to function. It is said there was a lot of cost involved such as water, electricity, maintenance of machines, purchase of raw materials and chemicals, which could not be sustained due to lack of sufficient funds. The loan provided by the government was only to put up the infrastructure which later became too much due to lack of funds. “Show me any project of that magnitude here with various shareholders like the tannery which has succeeded. None! It was a non-starter right at the beginning because of inadequate operational capital and lack of teamwork culture among the local entrepreneurs, which has never been part of their operational agenda. They always want to do their business separately”, said the source. Approached for comment, ODC Acting CEO Nghidinwa Daniel tries to distance himself from the ill-fated project by referring the reporter to the shareholders. He was totally on the defensive, firing successive questions instead of answering those questions put to him. “Why are you asking me? Why don’t you ask the shareholders? The Northern Tannery is a private company with its own shareholders and they are the right people to comment on the future plans of the project. We were only serving as an agency when it came to marketing, advice and sourcing of hides and skins,” said Daniel. He added that the ODC was doing what it could to help revive the project but that so far no tangible offers have been forthcoming. Daniel passed the buck on to the Mayor of Ondangwa, Priskilla Kauna Nashandi, the current Chairperson of the Board who declined to comment, saying the matter was ” too sensitive”. She referred this reporter to one of the shareholders, Ndangi Shipanga, who was also surprised as to why the ODC acting CEO could not shed light on the future plans of the project. “We are all dependent on what they will come up with,” said Shipanga. He declined to comment further, but referred the reporter to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Andrew Ndishishi. Ndishishi said future plans for the project were being worked out through a comprehensive feasibility study. The study is being carried out by PriceWaterouseCoopers and aims at finding ways of turning the tannery around. Asked what had gone wrong with the tannery which could have employed 200 people, Ndishishi confirmed that it was lack of operational capital which was supposed to have been provided by the shareholders that caused it to collapse. They could not afford to provide such funds which resulted even in workers – about 30 of them – not being paid. “The company has not been wound up yet. It has only financial problems. Once it is operational, the workers will be the first to be called back because they have not yet been laid off,” said the Permanent Secretary. He noted that his Ministry was paying the rates and property taxes to Ondangwa Town Council. This is so because the government has material interests in the sense that it has provided the loan where, until fully paid by the shareholders, the situation will remain the same (the loan constitutes interests of the government). Hundreds of millions have been lost in similar “investment” schemes in the past.