Fisheries Minister – Windhoek Observer

10 Jul

Nothing wrong with Marine Act changes – Kawana

ObserverObserver MoneyAlbert Kawana, Fisheries Minister, Marine Act

Andrew Kathindi Fisheries minister, Albert Kawana maintains he still supports the actual amendments made to the country’s Marine Resources Act of 2000 that was perverted by those accused in the Fishrot scandal. He qualifies his support by saying the problem was that the controversial legal changes were eventually used for corrupt practices. This comes as Former Fisheries Minister, Bernard Esau in cahoots with former Justice minister Sackey Shanghala, quickly pushed to have the Marine Resources Act amended in 2015, giving Esau powers to allocate fishing quotas to Fishcor, which in turn ended up in the hands of Icelandic fishing company,…

01 Jul

Govt strikes deal with NovaNam

ObserverObserver MoneyAlbert Kawana, Fisheries Minister

Staff Writer Government on Tuesday evening struck a deal with NovaNam Fishing Company, where it agreed to allocate additional quota to the Luderitz based company, allowing 1,800 of its permanent workers who had been sent on forced leave to return to work. Fisheries minister, Albert Kawana confirmed the development but was tightlipped on the details of the agreement. “We have allocated them an additional quota and the workers should be able to return to work,” he told the Windhoek Observer. NovaNam Managing Director, Edwin Kamatoto could not be reached by the newspaper for comment and calls made to his mobile…

26 Jun

We did our best – Kawana

ObserverObserver MoneyAlbert Kawana, Fisheries Minister, University of Namibia

Staff Writer Fisheries minister, Albert Kawana maintains his ministry did its utmost best to ensure that everyone was catered for when it allocated the new fishing rights. “We received 5,176 applications and it was impossible to give everyone quotas but we ensured that different groups were catered for, from the youth, regions, women and war veterans,” the minister said. “We had to consider broad-based allocation and we absolutely ensured that we catered for all the various groups.” As part of their submissions, applicants were to be judged on a scorecard system to determine their contribution to socio-economic development. The criteria…

31 May

Govt in jobs for quotas deal

ObserverObserver MoneyAlbert Kawana, Fisheries Minister, Walvis Bay

Andrew Kathindi The government has entered into a job for fishing quotas agreement with six companies on condition they absorb over 1,300 unemployed fishermen. The unnamed companies are set to benefit from 19850 metric tons of horse mackerel and 5816 metric tons of hake broken into weight and freezer as part of the agreement struck. Although additional details remain sketchy, the agreement is aimed at creating additional capacity for the six companies, allowing them to absorb employees who lost their jobs as a result of the Fishrot scandal. “The 1,300 jobs are ready for absorption. This consists of six companies…