Luderitz youth took to the streets this weekend to call out the local fishing quota holders who are neglecting their corporate social responsibility in the town.
A concerned member of the Luderitz youth Victoria Ndjebela said those who own fishing quotas in the town are not doing their part to help develop the area or its people.
“Our local quota holders should meet their social responsibilities by helping with development and create opportunities for employment,” Ndjebela said.
Ndjebela further said quotas should be allocated to those who care about the town otherwise it will have detrimental consequences to the livelihoods of the residents at the pace at which things are going.
Some of the posters from the demonstration said: ‘’We say no to outsourcing our resources’; ‘Shame to our local fishing holders for neglecting us’; ‘Revive local fishing factories that have been closed down’
Ndjebela further asked that Fisheries Minister Albert Kawana not cut the number of local fishing quota holders in Luderitz as they depend on fishing.
“The Fishing industry is what our town depends on. No fishing means no life to us,” Ndjebela said.
Eagle FM speaks to one of the concerned members of the Luderitz youth Victoria Ndjebela on the reason why they felt they needed to demonstrate.
Recently, Kawana said the government would award fishing rights to 185 companies that applied in 2018.
This number includes 104 new applicants and 81 previous rights holders. These beneficiaries were selected from 5 176 applications submitted in 2018.
Kawana said the companies that will have their fishing rights renewed were evaluated on certain criteria and considered because they employ about 7 000 workers.
Former fisheries minister Helmut Angula in a recent interview with Eagle FM said the fishing rights allocated to Namibians are scraps in comparison with the bigger chunks allocated to the foreigners.