No funds to pay green scheme workers

PETRUS Uugwanga, managing director of the Agricultural Business Development Agency (Agribusdev), on Tuesday said the agency cannot pay workers' overdue salaries at green schemes countrywide.

Uugwanga announced this after a press conference held by the Namibia Farm Workers' Union (Nafwu) on the non-payment of workers.

Nafwu president Cornelius Ntelamo said green scheme workers had not received their salaries for April and May.

“Workers are unhappy as this has created a difficult situation for themselves and their families,” he said.

Ntelamo said the union has been engaging Agribusdev since 2017 on workers' issues, but the agency has not been able to provide satisfactory responses. “This is just a question of cash flow, nothing else. Ideally each green scheme is supposed to pay its workers, but they don't have funds to honour this obligation,” Uugwanga said. He said the agency is currently engaging the government to salvage the situation.

Uugwanga said the circumstances do not only negatively impact green schemes, but also the agriculture industry in general. – Nampa