Ministers meet Okapale fishermen

Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Derek Klazen and Labour, Industrial Relations and Job Creation Minister Utoni Nujoma yesterday met with more than 200 fishermen employed under the Government Employment Relief Programme (GERP).

The meeting was held in Walvis Bay to discuss labour-related matters and other issues raised in the petition against the two ministries.

A total of 2,483 former fishermen have been reintegrated into the industry under the program. These fishermen are former employees of Namsov, participated in the illegal strike in 2015, or lost their jobs due to the Fishrot scandal. Klazen said they have been working with and communicating through the designated workers’ committee. “We feel we need to meet you, too. We have also invited the companies involved to the meeting.”

Healthy relationship

Nujoma added that ministries are guided by Section 95 of the Namibian Constitution to ensure the well-being of workers. “That is why when problems arise, we have a responsibility to meet with workers and employers to try to find an amicable solution. We want to promote good industrial relations, but we also realize that there are limits to everything. We have limited resources – especially in the fisheries sector.”

He mentioned the country’s sardine population, which has gone into a fishing ban due to overfishing.

“That is why the minister must listen to scientists when he is busy assessing whether fish stocks are improving. But for years these scientists have been telling us that this critical resource is dwindling and therefore the ministry has only a limited quota (allocated to our equity holders) to employ our people,” Nujoma said.

Constructive dialogue

According to the Labour Minister, they have received a large number of petitions.

“We want to hear your solutions because it does not help us if we continue to move forward with internal discontent and lack of consultation. Let us remember that our resources are limited in the context of high unemployment in this country.”

Utoni added: “We must remember that there are other fishermen in the country who are out of work. We are here to listen and have a constructive dialogue so that this issue can be resolved once and for all. Resources are limited but we must promote this industry which is essential for the survival of many.”

Meanwhile, Klassen stressed that of the 2,483 fishermen who were reemployed, 550 were engaged in the horse mackerel fishing industry and another 1,933 in the cod fishing industry.

“The GERP programme is not a re-run or continuation of their previous jobs, but a completely new proposal to provide them with jobs in the vertically integrated sector of fisheries. This includes catching, freezing, packing, marketing and selling fish, related products and other marine resources. It is not specifically designed to provide jobs to former fishermen seafarers.”

In April this year, the fishermen demanded justice and wrote a petition to the two ministers stating that they were being treated unfairly, unfairly terminated and unfairly taxed. In addition, the workers said they were only assigned temporary work, while the previous agreement was that the company would employ them permanently.