Survival blueprint: Govt dragging its feet

THE Namibian Employers’ Federation (NEF) is worried that Government is taking too long to come up with a strategy to ensure Namibia survives the global financial crisis, which threatens to pull the country into recession.

NEF President Vekuii Rukoro on Wednesday said the Federation is concerned about ‘the time it is taking to formulate the strategy’.
The Cabinet Committee on Trade and Economic Development, under the wing of Trade and Industry Minister Hage Geingob, is the responsible agency.
President Hifikepunye Pohamba gave Minister Geingob the assignment late in January. This was followed by a stakeholders’ meeting in mid-February, after which a special task force, led by top economist Robin Sherbourne and Deputy Permanent Secretary of Trade and Industry Nghidinua Daniel, was assigned to review proposals and come up with a blueprint. According to Freddie !Gaoseb, Deputy Director of Projects and Initiatives in the Ministry, the task force has completed its report. However, it must still be reviewed and there are still some outstanding issues before the document can be submitted to the Cabinet Committee, whose deadline is the end of April.
Rukoro said the NEF is also concerned about the ‘apparent disconnect’ between the strategy and the recently tabled 2009-10 Budget.
‘This raises the question: are we going to have a well-planned, well-coordinated, well-resourced and well-executed plan to address the impact of the global crisis on the various facets of the national economy, or is the nation, once again, going to be subjected to reaping the doubtful benefits of poor planning and poor execution?’ Rukoro asked at the NEF’s annual general meeting.
The Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) recently also questioned Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s snubbing the crisis task force in her 2009-10 Budget. Since the task force only started brainstorming shortly before the Budget was tabled, it seemed ‘rather futile’ that she submitted it, the IPPR said.
Labour and Social Welfare Minister Immanuel Ngatjizeko, who also attended the NEF AGM, said ‘technical officials’ who are assisting the Cabinet Committee ‘are hard at work producing documentation that would be used as generators of solutions to the problem at hand’.
The Minister said the Committee was formed because Government realised that ‘in the absence of a national response, job losses could be massive’.
In this regard, the Committee will also rely on proposals from the private sector, Minister Ngatjizeko said.
!Gaoseb reiterated this to The Namibian, saying that once the task force report has been reviewed by the Cabinet Committee, another public stakeholders’ meeting is bound to follow.
jo-mare@namibian.com.na