Fishing quota allocation '98% done'

OGONE TLHAGE

WINDHOEK



Fisheries minister Albert Kawana says the allocation of fishing rights to new applicants should be completed by February.

Kawana said the process to allocate fishing rights was 98% done. He added that the coronavirus lockdown from March to May this year made it hard for the team of assessors to complete the assignment earlier.

Kawana added that the Fishrot bribery scandal had also affected the allocation of fishing rights to new applicants, as several computers belonging to the ministry of fisheries were seized pending investigations.



Broad distribution

Kawana stressed that it was important to ensure that a broad scope of Namibians would qualify and said this was another factor that was delaying the allocation of fishing rights.

In May, Kawana told Namibian Sun that 81 old fishing right holders had been given new quotas, while 104 new applicants had also received the nod.

Seven months later, the successful applicants remain a mystery, despite the government promising that the names would be announced in the press.



U-turn

Although Kawana had said the ministry had awarded quotas to successful bidders, later he sang a different tune when he told journalists that vetting was still under way.

Kawana said every effort was being made to ensure that applicants met all the requirements.

A total of 5 193 applications had been received by the ministry of fisheries in 2018. The Khomas Region tops the list of applicants with 4 013, followed by Erongo with 661 and Oshana with 110.

The regions with the fewest applicants are Oshikoto with 18 applicants, followed by Kavango West with 23 and Omaheke with 25.