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NAMSOV retains staff in trying times

Her Worship, the Mayor of Walvis Bay, Ulikka Nambahu, and the Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises, Hon. Engel Nawatiseb delightfully share a meal while NAMSOV Chief Sustainability Officer, Tuna Willem looks on.

The mainstay of Bidvest Namibia, NAMSOV, this week announced that it will retain its 664 strong workforce all in the hope that the Ministry of Fisheries will allocate enough quotas to meet its production quotas.

This was the word of its Human Resource Officer Edwin Kamatoto who made the remarks at a Braai Day held in Walvis Bay this past week.
He said, “at Namsov we recognize that people are our biggest asset and we continue to find ways to invest in training and developing our staff members not just to improve their capacity but to empower them. The company now boasts of a work force of 664 full time employees, allowing us to remain the biggest employer of seaman in the industry to date.”
He added, “despite ongoing challenges with the loss of quotas, the company has taken a decision to retain our staff compliment with the hope that we will be allocated enough quotas to meet our production needs.”
NAMSOV has also been on a strong Namibianization drive. According to Kamatoto, 10 graduates from Russia recently returned home to take up various positions on-board its marine fishing vessels. Kamatoto said, “as part of our Namibianization drive, we recently welcomed back 10 graduates that we sent to Russia for studies at a cost of over N$7.9 million. The 10 graduates were trained at the Baltic Fishing Fleet State Academy in Kaliningrad, Russia and they will now occupy positions of Marine Engineers and Deck Officers as we move towards having Namibians occupying high level positions on board our vessels.” According to him, in 2014 alone, over 649 employees attended formal training in various fields at a cost of N$2.7 million to NAMSOV, while the NAMSOV Community Trust also offered bursaries to the less disadvantaged but deserving students around the country.” Added NAMSOV Chief Sustainability Officer Tuna Willem, “The NAMSOV Community Trust has for the past 23 years donated a total of N$61 million towards community development in Namibia, a huge feat for a local company. I would like to end by reaffirming NAMSOV`s commitment to Namibia`s fishing industry, its sustainability and growth.”

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