Namfi students graduate

Thirty-seven Namibia Maritime and Fisheries Institute (NAMFI) students graduated as fisheries inspectors and observers, Class 6 deck officers, navigation officers and marine engineering officers.

The Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of NAMFI Ms Connie Pandeni said “Through the years the board and management have been working on strategies to raise funds and as a result, a new business plan has been crafted that spells out the way forward”.
Pandeni added that NAMFI’s contribution to the country’s economy is without a question as the graduates are directly at the means of production for the realization of the government’s NDP5 and the Harambe Prosperity Plan and vision 2030.
NAMFI Acting Director Tobias Nambala said at the graduating ceremony that they are hard at work to put together a new strategic plan for 2019 to 2025 and that the new strategic plan should survive tough economic conditions and ensure that NAMFI stays relevant and to ensure sustainability and allow the creation of value for their customers and stake-holders.
Nambala also mentioned that NAMFI is not spared from the enduring economic uncertainty increases risk and that need to set and implement a new business plan and that they are busy formulating supporting funding models.
The Chief Executive Office of the Fisheries Observers Agency (FOA) Stanley Ndara said “The FOA is indeed a visible symbol of Namibian sovereignty and additional vigilance against threats to the conservation of our marine resources such as Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU), oil pollution, and other covert activities along our coastline”.
“We complement the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources’ monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) programme.” Ndara added.
Ndara challenged the graduates to come up with innovative ways to protect the ocean’s marine resources and to device innovative ways to carry out surveillance activities over the Namibian Exclusive Economic Zone and to foster closer cooperation and collaboration with the Ministry and law enforcement agencies and apply their knowledge they acquired to the best of their abilities.