The Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) has revealed that the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) still owes N$28.1 million to producers who supplied livestock under last year’s broad-based support programme.
Meatco chief executive Albertus !Aochamub says the delayed payments are not the company’s responsibility but are affecting producers who rely on timely settlements to sustain their operations.
He says the outstanding funds relate to livestock procured by the government as part of drought relief efforts and stressed that the money belongs to the producers, not Meatco.
According to !Aochamub, the delay has undermined producers’ confidence that payments will be made promptly.
“This money does not belong to Meatco; it belongs to the producers from whom the government procured the livestock that helped sustain Namibians during the drought period. If the N$28.1 million is paid and ring-fenced for the producers who supplied the raw materials, I believe the matter can be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction,” he adds.
!Aochamub also says funds earmarked for the Equalisation Fund, established by the government to narrow the price gap between commercial farmers south of the redline and communal farmers in the north, have yet to be allocated to Meatco.
He says Cabinet last year approved the allocation of N$100 million to the fund, with Meatco mandated to administer it. However, the funds have not yet been released.
“With the government’s financial year ending at the end of March, we effectively have only two months left for Cabinet to implement its own decision. The N$100 million has not yet been allocated and is not in our coffers. Meatco stands ready to administer the fund once the allocation is made,” !Aochamub says.
– The Brief
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