Construction industry 'captured'
United Democratic Party (UPM) MP Jan van Wyk said the increase in government's capital budget will not benefit Namibian workers, accusing the Chinese “with the approval of government and the Swapo elite” of having “captured” the construction industry.
Van Wyk accused the Swapo-led government of “putting their friends first at the expense of the Namibian workers”, and criticised trade unions' silence on the matter.
He said the fact that parliament in March 2017 shot down his motion that the impact of imported Chinese labour on public construction projects be investigated shows this.
He said this is indicative of a government that “does not care about the Namibian workers”, and added: “Hopefully the Namibian workers will keep this in mind when voting later this year.”
Van Wyk in his contribution to the discussion on the national budget in parliament last week also took issue with the Chinese dominance in Namibia's uranium sector and what he called the “unfair treatment” of former Rössing Uranium workers regarding the pay-out of the surplus pension monies.
He said the government should not boast with having raised the living standards of the majority of Namibians by relying on false statistics generated by state entities adding that government should instead investigate why its statistics are being questioned by a number of groups in the country.
The Trade Union Congress of Namibia (Tucna) questioned the statistics contained in the 2018 Namibia Labour Force Survey released by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) last week.
It particularly questioned the reported decline in unemployment from 34% in 2016 to 33.4% in 2018 under the current harsh economic conditions.
Van Wyk last week said the introduction of food banks has contributed to the unemployment rate because people might have opted to become “spectators and beneficiaries” instead of participating in the economy.
CATHERINE SASMAN
Van Wyk accused the Swapo-led government of “putting their friends first at the expense of the Namibian workers”, and criticised trade unions' silence on the matter.
He said the fact that parliament in March 2017 shot down his motion that the impact of imported Chinese labour on public construction projects be investigated shows this.
He said this is indicative of a government that “does not care about the Namibian workers”, and added: “Hopefully the Namibian workers will keep this in mind when voting later this year.”
Van Wyk in his contribution to the discussion on the national budget in parliament last week also took issue with the Chinese dominance in Namibia's uranium sector and what he called the “unfair treatment” of former Rössing Uranium workers regarding the pay-out of the surplus pension monies.
He said the government should not boast with having raised the living standards of the majority of Namibians by relying on false statistics generated by state entities adding that government should instead investigate why its statistics are being questioned by a number of groups in the country.
The Trade Union Congress of Namibia (Tucna) questioned the statistics contained in the 2018 Namibia Labour Force Survey released by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) last week.
It particularly questioned the reported decline in unemployment from 34% in 2016 to 33.4% in 2018 under the current harsh economic conditions.
Van Wyk last week said the introduction of food banks has contributed to the unemployment rate because people might have opted to become “spectators and beneficiaries” instead of participating in the economy.
CATHERINE SASMAN
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article