Government to discuss third development plan

PRESIDENT Hifikepunye Pohamba will open a four-day workshop in Windhoek today that will put the finishing touches to the third national development plan until the year 2012.

The NDP3 was originally scheduled to be completed in August this year, but consultations with all stakeholders, including the private sector and civil society, took longer than expected. The National Planning Commission (NPC) is the overall co-ordinating agency of the NPD3, which covers good governance, private-sector development, infrastructure, land, regional integration and different sectors of the economy.According to a preliminary draft, Government intends to acquire 2,6 million hectares of commercial farmland by 2012 and pans to have another 5,2 ha of commercial farmland transferred to previously disadvantaged Namibians via the affirmative action loan scheme.It also plans to increase the sum of N$50 million allocated each year to the Lands Ministry to buy commercial farms for resettlement.Another goal is to merge the Commercial Land Reform Act with the Communal Land Reform Act.The four-day conference ends on Monday.The National Planning Commission (NPC) is the overall co-ordinating agency of the NPD3, which covers good governance, private-sector development, infrastructure, land, regional integration and different sectors of the economy.According to a preliminary draft, Government intends to acquire 2,6 million hectares of commercial farmland by 2012 and pans to have another 5,2 ha of commercial farmland transferred to previously disadvantaged Namibians via the affirmative action loan scheme.It also plans to increase the sum of N$50 million allocated each year to the Lands Ministry to buy commercial farms for resettlement.Another goal is to merge the Commercial Land Reform Act with the Communal Land Reform Act.The four-day conference ends on Monday.