Nimt employees’ salaries finally paid

ALL of the 225 staff members of the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (Nimt), who had not been paid their October salaries, have finally been paid all their outstanding money.

The staff received 75% of their salaries on Saturday, and the remaining 25% on Tuesday, Nimt acting executive director Ralph Bussel said.

Speaking to The Namibian on Monday, Bussel confirmed that the staff members received their monthly dues after waiting for almost 10 days after payday, which was on 25 October.

This comes after The Namibian last week reported that salaries had been delayed because of technical glitches that the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) is experiencing

Bussel said the institute, which specialises in technical vocational training with courses in mining, manufacturing and engineering, relies on the money paid by most trainees.

“The funding that we receive to operate is the money which follows the trainees, and most of them are funded by NSFAF and the NTA [Namibia Training Authority]. That is how we receive funding,” he explained.

Bussel said after receiving 75% of their salaries over the weekend, NSFAF released more money, which allowed the institute to settle the remaining balances of the salaries yesterday.

“NSFAF released some funds so that we could help our people, and I can tell you now, we did not pay the full portion of the salaries anyway.

We just paid 75%, and according to NSFAF, they said they would release money today [Monday] again,” he continued.

Bussel confirmed that the delay in paying salaries to the students has been happening since the establishment of the institute, but it is the first time that it has happened this year.

“This has been going on for all these years since the existence of Nimt. It is not only now that we are battling with this. it happened previously. This is the first time for this year, though,” he reiterated.

A staff member at the institute confirmed that she was paid her full salary yesterday.

“Yes, were were paid over the weekend and the rest today, and I am so happy,” she added.

The Namibian’s attempts to reach NSFAF spokesperson Percy Tjahere proved futile.

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