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MP says Govt needs to make radical changes at Air Namibia

MP says Govt needs to make radical changes at Air Namibia

A MEMBER of the opposition has proposed that Air Namibia should scrap its international flights and concentrate on profitable local and regional routes, like Botswana and Zambia did with their airlines.

Speaking on Friday during debate on the Finance Ministry’s budget vote, Johan de Waal of the DTA said a conference was necessary to decide on the best possible way to rescue Air Namibia, which has received N$1,5 billion in State subsidies since April 2004. Air Namibia is once again a heavy burden on the taxpayer this financial year.The ailing national carrier has been allocated N$536,76 million from the National Budget.Of this, N$435 million will be used so that Air Namibia “can clear all its existing legacy debt”, according to page 139 of the Budget document.The remaining N$101,7 million is for the lease of the Airbus passenger plane.The same amount for this lease agreement will be paid over the next two financial years each until March 2010.”I am repeating myself here, as during each budget debate: I ask Government to drastically do something about the airline, but Government does not listen.It is as if one is talking to a wall,” De Waal lamented.Henk Mudge of the Republican Party said that in his view it was unnecessary to have the Namibia Airports Company.The Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication could administer and manage the country’s airports, Mudge said.If the company continued to exist, it should be placed under that Ministry and should not remain with Finance.”The Finance Ministry is doing a good job and has a good reputation.It should thus not have loss-making entities like Air Namibia and the Windhoek Country Club (WCC) under its wing, because it damages the Ministry’s reputation,” said Mudge.He proposed that Air Namibia should get a new and professional management team and that the WCC should be sold.”It is not the Government’s job to run hotels,” he said.The WCC made a net loss of N$49,2 million in 2005 and still has to pay off loans of N$172,7 million.The Country Club will soon be placed under the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and will be administered by Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR), a parastatal.In his response, Deputy Finance Minister Tjekero Tweya said a team of EU experts had concluded a study on Air Namibia and its relevance to the tourism industry and the Namibian economy in general.”The Cabinet Committee for economics is dealing with the study and will inform Cabinet about its contents and appropriate decision will be taken.”To this, De Waal interjected: “We will hold thumbs for you.”The Finance Ministry has been allocated N$ 2,7 billion in the Budget, of which N$1,21 billion goes to Air Namibia, the Development Bank AgriBank and to NamPower.Good news is that by February 2007, a total of N$8,2 billion in tax payments had been collected by the Receiver of Revenue, about N$400 million more than projected for the whole of the financial year between April 2006 and March 2007.Air Namibia is once again a heavy burden on the taxpayer this financial year.The ailing national carrier has been allocated N$536,76 million from the National Budget.Of this, N$435 million will be used so that Air Namibia “can clear all its existing legacy debt”, according to page 139 of the Budget document.The remaining N$101,7 million is for the lease of the Airbus passenger plane.The same amount for this lease agreement will be paid over the next two financial years each until March 2010.”I am repeating myself here, as during each budget debate: I ask Government to drastically do something about the airline, but Government does not listen.It is as if one is talking to a wall,” De Waal lamented.Henk Mudge of the Republican Party said that in his view it was unnecessary to have the Namibia Airports Company.The Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication could administer and manage the country’s airports, Mudge said.If the company continued to exist, it should be placed under that Ministry and should not remain with Finance.”The Finance Ministry is doing a good job and has a good reputation.It should thus not have loss-making entities like Air Namibia and the Windhoek Country Club (WCC) under its wing, because it damages the Ministry’s reputation,” said Mudge.He proposed that Air Namibia should get a new and professional management team and that the WCC should be sold.”It is not the Government’s job to run hotels,” he said.The WCC made a net loss of N$49,2 million in 2005 and still has to pay off loans of N$172,7 million.The Country Club will soon be placed under the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and will be administered by Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR), a parastatal.In his response, Deputy Finance Minister Tjekero Tweya said a team of EU experts had concluded a study on Air Namibia and its relevance to the tourism industry and the Namibian economy in general.”The Cabinet Committee for economics is dealing with the study and will inform Cabinet about its contents and appropriate decision will be taken.”To this, De Waal interjected: “We will hold thumbs for you.”The Finance Ministry has been allocated N$ 2,7 billion in the Budget, of which N$1,21 billion goes to Air Namibia, the Development Bank AgriBank and to NamPower.Good news is that by February 2007, a total of N$8,2 billion in tax payments had been collected by the Receiver of Revenue, about N$400 million more than projected for the whole of the financial year between April 2006 and March 2007.

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