Northern Tannery at Ondangwa in financial crisis

AN ongoing dispute between the shareholders and the Board of Directors of the Northern Tannery in Ondangwa has left 32 workers without pay.

The multi-million dollar tannery and leather manufacturer’s workers held a press conference and are now demanding answers. “No one is saying anything, all we’ve been told is that the General Manager is working on something but that the company has no money,” said Chief of Maintenance Armas Amukoto on behalf of the workers.Amukoto also said that a letter of complaint was sent to the Chairman of Board of directors, Dr Naftali Hamata.”He (Hamata) did not yet get back to us even though the letter was sent last month,” said Amukoto.The Tannery’s General Manager Alfred Andreas told The Namibian that the possibility of a shutdown could not be ruled out.”The tannery was born dead from the time it was built.At some time it has to close, but they should give us an explanation,” said Andreas.Although the factory is private owned, 98 per cent of shares belong to the Government.When approached for comment, a tight-lipped Hamata said: “The little I can tell you is that there was a meeting organised with the Mayor of Ondangwa in April to elect a new board.I was not present as I was not told about it”.Hamata declined to comment further and referred The Namibian to Ondangwa’s Mayor, Priscilla Nashandi , who in turn referred the paper to one of the shareholders, Silvanus Vatuva.Vatuva said the tannery’s inability to satisfy shareholders has resulted in a re-election of a new board.”We called upon the Ministry of Trade and Industry because we want to restart.The factory needs to be rescued from the Ministry,” said Vatuva.Discussions about the unpaid workers are still underway.”The lack of money means we cannot keep all of them.We’ll have to retrench some workers,” said Vatuva.The Northern Tannery, which is situated near the Ondangwa Airport, started operations in 2001.It was constructed at a cost of roughly N$45 million.”No one is saying anything, all we’ve been told is that the General Manager is working on something but that the company has no money,” said Chief of Maintenance Armas Amukoto on behalf of the workers.Amukoto also said that a letter of complaint was sent to the Chairman of Board of directors, Dr Naftali Hamata.”He (Hamata) did not yet get back to us even though the letter was sent last month,” said Amukoto.The Tannery’s General Manager Alfred Andreas told The Namibian that the possibility of a shutdown could not be ruled out.”The tannery was born dead from the time it was built.At some time it has to close, but they should give us an explanation,” said Andreas.Although the factory is private owned, 98 per cent of shares belong to the Government.When approached for comment, a tight-lipped Hamata said: “The little I can tell you is that there was a meeting organised with the Mayor of Ondangwa in April to elect a new board.I was not present as I was not told about it”.Hamata declined to comment further and referred The Namibian to Ondangwa’s Mayor, Priscilla Nashandi , who in turn referred the paper to one of the shareholders, Silvanus Vatuva.Vatuva said the tannery’s inability to satisfy shareholders has resulted in a re-election of a new board.”We called upon the Ministry of Trade and Industry because we want to restart.The factory needs to be rescued from the Ministry,” said Vatuva.Discussions about the unpaid workers are still underway.”The lack of money means we cannot keep all of them.We’ll have to retrench some workers,” said Vatuva.The Northern Tannery, which is situated near the Ondangwa Airport, started operations in 2001.It was constructed at a cost of roughly N$45 million.