Lüderitz hits back at fraud allegations
KEETMANSHOOP – The Lüderitz Town Council yesterday hit back at allegations of theft of millions of dollars generated by the Lüderitz Crayfish Festival Trust (LCFT) from the sale of ministerial allocations of frozen hake quotas.
“The Lüderitz Town Council would like to respond that the said article contains misleading information about town council and the Lüderitz Crayfish Festival Trust,” read a media statement.
The statement clarified that the council is bound to rectify any misleading statements for the benefit of the general public and relevant stakeholders. Referring to the Namibian Media Code of Ethics, mandating journalism of the highest professional and ethical standards, the entity described the newspaper article in breach of the professional code. “The Windhoek Observer has acted with ‘actual malice’ in publishing a story without granting the council and festival trust the ‘right of reply’ to the allegations made,” the town authority said .
The council’s reply also explained the origin of the Lüderitz Crayfish Festival Trust, namely that it was established via a council resolution to provide a medium through which the trust makes a meaningful contribution towards the socio-economic welfare of the Lüderitz community; strives for the promotion of Lüderitz as a tourism destination of choice; allows for the community to convene for a social gathering during the Crayfish Festival; promote multi-culturalism; foster national unity and establish a revolving fund to sustain similar events annually. “Similarly, functions and duties of the trustees are outlined in; The Lüderitz Crayfish Festival Trust Deed of Trust, Protocol No.: 07/2014, in terms of Letters of Authority of the Master of the High Court at Windhoek,” it added.
The festival trust, according to the statement, is thus a beneficiary of the fishing quota allocated to the town council, of which funds from the proceeds of sales are channeled via bank transfer and managed independently by the trust to host the annual Lüderitz Crayfish Festival.
“The acting secretary of the Lüderitz Entire Community Association, Ronnie Solomons’ assertions of alleged fraud are false, inaccurate, misleading, frivolous and void of all truth,” the town council said. The council further asserts that the malicious allegations are an attempt to defame the integrity of the trust and town council.
According to the town council, the two entities (council and trust) have given over N$1 million to the Lüderitz community as corporate social investment during the 2022/23 financial year.
“This is deemed as a direct benefit of the allocated quota, contrary to the allegations of non-beneficiation of the community.”
The statement further extended appreciation to government for years of support received to host the Lüderitz Crayfish Festival, that has been confirmed to have generated a number of spin-offs for the community through direct beneficiation.
“Lüderitz Town Council and the Lüderitz Crayfish Festival Trust welcome any investigation by the office of the AntiCorruption Commission and the office of the Ombudsman.”
Meanwhile, the allocation of 300 tonnes of hake freezer quota by the fisheries and marine resources ministry to the Lüderitz Town Council, was started in 2008 and will run until 2026.