The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources will direct N.dollars 163.5 million of its allocated N.dollars 175.5 million budget towards personnel expenditure under the operational budget.
The remainder of N.dollars 12 million will be allocated to the development budget, according to fisheries minister, Derek Klazen, during his budget motivation speech in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
According to Klazen, despite the reduced allocation, the ministry embraces the idea of doing the necessary with less and ensuring that its mandate is executed.
“I am glad to report to this august House that despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fishing industry remains strong and vibrant and will continue to flourish and adjust to the new normal. The resilience of the fishing sector was confirmed during my consultations with the fishing industry during October 2021, where stakeholders discussed and shared pertinent issues affecting the sector,” he said.
The minister stressed that his ministry will continue to place special emphasis on employment creation, empowerment and economic inclusivity in the fisheries sector, in line with the Fifth National Development Plan (NDP 5) and Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP) II, as underpinned by the policy aspirations of enhancing distribution of fisheries wealth to the benefit of Namibians.
“The ministry is also at an advanced stage of developing the Blue Economy Policy and subsequently the framework in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its related goals and targets. The policy aims to contribute to the realisation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 on life below water and also contributes to the realisation of SDG 1 and 2, being no poverty and zero hunger respectively.”
The minister noted that the draft is currently being finalised in order to call for a validation workshop with all stakeholders to ensure that all their inputs are incorporated.
He said funds allocated to the ministry will be put to good use, in line with the State Finance Act, Act No. 31 of 1991, highlighting the fact that the ministry has received unqualified audit reports for both the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 financial years.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
