Serious about job creation?

It is alleged that about N$8 billion intended for the Targeted Intervention Program for Employment and Economic Growth (Tipeeg) will be returned to National Treasury at the end of the current financial year 2011/2012 come March 31, 2012.

Government will now have to make provision for additional funds to make up for these projects that were earmarked for the 2011/2012 financial year but failed to get off the ground because of a low execution rate of development projects.

In a nutshell, the Government has failed to obtain desired results due to poor programme implementation.

TIPEEG was introduced as a stimulus programme, created to stimulate targeted economic activities, with the objective of serving as a catalyst for employment growth for thousands of jobless Namibians.

The execution rate of this N$14 billion project is not the only item that has been frowned upon. Critics of this programme have long called for transparency to prevail in the awarding of TIPEEG tenders, while the National Planning Commission (NPC), the co-ordinating agency of TIPEEG projects – have been requested to inform the nation of the status of its implementation to the various ministries and Government agencies. Nothing has come of it. Government recently claimed that 7 000 odd jobs have been created as a result of TIPEEG. That is good, but can we say that Government is serious about employment creation if billions are returned to Treasury? The NPC should acknowledge the implementation glitches that are at the moment hampering the realisation of this ambitious programme. And the first thing is to admit that the procurement system set up to deal with TIPEEG projects is not working and a result has opened itself up for graft.

Moreover, it appears that regional governors - whose offices are in touch with the rural grassroots – have not been widely consulted on the TIPEEG. The fact that the various Ministries have failed to implement TIPEEG projects across the country underlines their ineffectiveness and lax-attitude in fighting unemployment in the country.

The unspent billions could have been utilised for other projects in an attempt to accelerate economic growth and provide the much-needed employment for the thousands of youth who are wandering aimlessly the streets.

TIPEEG should be the solution to the unemployed hence we need to crackdown against those individuals using this national programme as a get-rich-quick scheme.