Africa-Press – Namibia. Employees of Princess Brand Processing, a fishing company, will be without jobs as from today.
The company was forced to lay off its 634 workforce due to a lack of quota. The horse mackerel processing company, previously known as Seaflower Pelagic, was established in 2017 through a joint venture between Fishcor and African Selection Fishing Namibia.
This agreement allowed the company access to at least 50 000 metric tonnes of horse mackerel until 2031 through Fishcor. However, the company is unable to exploit its quota due to an ongoing dispute with the government over the Fishcor partnership.
As one of the interventions to sustain jobs, the company was catching through an exploration quota that was issued by government for the past three years.
The agreement only allowed the company to catch fish for six months each year. Despite that, the company paid its workers in full each year although facing financial challenges.
However, the agreement came to an end on 31 October, and it is not yet clear whether government will extend the 200-metre isobar experimental project granted to the Wetlanded Small Pelagic Association. The project, which allowed the company to fish within the designated zone.
Due to job uncertainty, employees yesterday peacefully marched from Princess Brand to the ministry of fisheries in Walvis Bay to hand over a petition in a bid to save their jobs.
Speaking on behalf of the affected employees, Silas Petrus said the decision has left hundreds of families in limbo.
“We have tried before and after the end of this experiment to seek assistance from the government by proposing that the project be extended. Unfortunately, our proposals for an exclusive fishing zone and other catching methods such as purse seining and pilchard quotas were declined,” he said.
He explained that the workers were not protesting but peacefully expressing their concerns over the loss of jobs and the future of the wet landed small pelagic sector.
“Our intention is not to fight or threaten anyone. We are here to express our collective views. We believe collaboration is the best way to safeguard the jobs of our employees and the sustainability of the sector,” Petrus stated.
According to him, the retrenchments were initially set for 31 October but were extended to 15 November following the intervention of the Namibian Food and Allied Workers Union (NAFAU).
He said that despite several attempts to seek dialogue with the Ministry and the regional leadership, their attempts have been futile.
“We requested a meeting with the Prime Minister’s office and the fisheries ministry but since October, we have not received any feedback. This silence has left us uncertain about our future,” Petrus added.
The workers are now calling on the ministry to urgently intervene and allocate quotas to the factory to prevent further economic hardship, especially at a time that they are about to go on holiday.
“Government and Princess Brand Processing must really look at finding a solution for this ongoing dispute,” he appealed.
Princess Brand Processing, in a statement issued yesterday, acknowledged that they find themselves in a predicament and expressed regret over the retrenchments.
“Our decision to issue notices of retrenchment was not taken lightly. It follows the expiry of the experimental project and the absence of further fishing opportunities.
We remain committed to working with government and other stakeholders to find a sustainable solution that will allow the resumption of operations,” the company said in a statement yesterday afternoon.
Meanwhile questions sent to the ministry are yet to be answered.
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