Walvis Bay — The fisheries and labour ministries have embarked on a new strategy to offer actual jobs and salaries to unemployed fishermen through the Government Employment Redress Programme. After lengthy negotiations, the two ministries reached an agreement with the hake sector on Friday.
Through this agreement, the hake industry has undertaken to permanently employ 681 fishermen, while consultations with the horse mackerel industry are still ongoing.
So far, 119 fishermen will be employed at Seaworks, Merlus Fishing will take in 92, Hangana Seafood will absorb 290 fishermen, while Tunacor has pledged to take in 180.
Fisheries minister Derek Klazen yesterday also told journalists that 1700 fishermen will finally be permanently employed after the successful negotiations.
According to him, the hake sector was offered eight metric tons of hake for each fisherman they will employ. This translates into 5 448 metric tonnes for the hake sector.
The re-employment of the fishermen comes as a great relief for the sector after some people lost their jobs through an illegal strike in 2015, while others fell victim to the Fishrot scandal.
The re-employment process was initiated in 2020, following a Cabinet directive to address the plight of the fishermen who were in social distress following the illegal strike.
However, the affected group resigned on 22 August 2022, saying no employment was created since the Cabinet directive in 2020, and that they want to work for better salaries to sustain their families.
Following the directive, 1 100 fishermen have been employed since 2021 by Kuiseb Fishing Enterprises, Hadago Fishing, Cavema Fishing, Rainbow Fishing, Vernier Investment and Camoposatu through the Caveman joint venture.
The new employment negotiations came after their mass resignation from the joint venture last year after expressing their discontent over the N$4 000 allowances they were receiving, despite not doing any physical work.
"The new employment agreements will enable fishermen to do actual jobs, unlike in the past. I want to point out that the current employment agreements are not signed by individuals but by companies.
Also, no quotas are given to individuals but will be allocated to companies for the employment of the fishermen," Klazen explained.
He added that the allocation of quotas caused confusion during the previous agreements, whereby the fishermen wanted the quotas withdrawn from Cavema when they resigned.
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Klazen pointed out that quotas could not be withdrawn, as some companies already caught their quotas, while others planned their operations against such quotas.
"That is why I want to make it clear that the quotas don't belong to the workers," he said.
Erongo governor Neville Andre, during yesterday's signing, said he is happy re-employment is being finalised, and that decent jobs are finally a reality for the beleaguered fishermen.
"What we see today is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it ensures stability in terms of jobs in our region. We want to thank the fishing industry for their commitment to assisting the government in terms of the employment redress programme," Andre said. At the same occasion, deputy labour minister Hafeni Ndemula also applauded stakeholders for the vital part they played in ensuring these agreements were reached.
"We are pleased to take our people from the streets, making sure amid unemployment we can secure jobs for at least 1 700. We will also make sure that everything is done according to the Labour Act," he said.
