Kasingo slams fishing industry

WINDHOEK – Selfishness and dishonesty on the part of some managers/owners of fishing companies are among the reasons for the current sour labour relations in the fishing industry.

These were the words of Security Commission member Loide Kasingo in the National Assembly during the 2005/06 National Budget debate on Thursday. Kasingo said industrial peace was a condition for democracy in any country, adding that it was sad to note that industrial disharmony and retrenchment were the order of the day in the fishing industry.She said in any democratic industry, the employers must open their books to prove to the workers whether their companies were making a loss or profit in accordance with the recognition agreement.In Namibia this is regarded as a taboo and interference in affairs of the company, she said.She called on fishing companies to embrace transparency.”A highly motivated labour force results in high productivity.Workers are motivated only if they are assured of job security,” she said.On education, Kasingo said affirmative action should be applied to provide quality education, particularly in rural areas.She commended central Government for doing its level best to allocate half of the national budget to education, but said much still needed to be done and private companies should meet Government halfway.She said parastatals should expand their social responsibility programmes to the rural areas, especially to the previously disadvantaged communities, by allocating bursaries to some students from such communities every year.Kasingo said the private sector should also play a role in the country’s education sector, adding that private companies should follow the example of the late Werner List, who donated farms to Government, as well as the owner of the Mount Etjo lodge who built a school for the children of people working on his farm.”Here I am talking about men and women who have big money, black and white, to voluntary give a small portion of their wealth for the benefit of those who have not,” she said.Incentive schemes should be devised to lure teachers with much-needed expertise to go and work in rural areas, which would result in quality education and in turn boost rural development, Kasingo said.-NampaKasingo said industrial peace was a condition for democracy in any country, adding that it was sad to note that industrial disharmony and retrenchment were the order of the day in the fishing industry.She said in any democratic industry, the employers must open their books to prove to the workers whether their companies were making a loss or profit in accordance with the recognition agreement.In Namibia this is regarded as a taboo and interference in affairs of the company, she said.She called on fishing companies to embrace transparency.”A highly motivated labour force results in high productivity.Workers are motivated only if they are assured of job security,” she said.On education, Kasingo said affirmative action should be applied to provide quality education, particularly in rural areas.She commended central Government for doing its level best to allocate half of the national budget to education, but said much still needed to be done and private companies should meet Government halfway.She said parastatals should expand their social responsibility programmes to the rural areas, especially to the previously disadvantaged communities, by allocating bursaries to some students from such communities every year.Kasingo said the private sector should also play a role in the country’s education sector, adding that private companies should follow the example of the late Werner List, who donated farms to Government, as well as the owner of the Mount Etjo lodge who built a school for the children of people working on his farm.”Here I am talking about men and women who have big money, black and white, to voluntary give a small portion of their wealth for the benefit of those who have not,” she said.Incentive schemes should be devised to lure teachers with much-needed expertise to go and work in rural areas, which would result in quality education and in turn boost rural development, Kasingo said.-Nampa