New Era gets parastatal green light

CABINET has given the go-ahead for the State-owned newspaper New Era to become a fully-fledged parastatal.

At present, a number of its employees are still employed as staff of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, and not by the publication. Of the three information parastatals, New Era receives the smallest cut – N$5,8 million – of the Information budget.Cabinet has decided that, by July, the process of delinking the publication from the Ministry must be completed and that it should meet all the objectives set out in the New Era Publications Act of 1992.This included establishing regional bureaus and becoming a daily newspaper before the end of the current financial year, Information Minister Nangolo Mbumba said when motivating his Ministry’s budget in the National Assembly on Thursday.He noted that the Namibian Press Agency (Nampa) was under severe financial strain because of a lack of funding.During this financial year, the press agency stands to receive N$8,1 million.But Mbumba said the agency was constantly losing qualified staff, unable to acquire the necessary equipment for its operations and to fully implement its business plan.Of the three information parastatals, New Era receives the smallest cut – N$5,8 million – of the Information budget.Cabinet has decided that, by July, the process of delinking the publication from the Ministry must be completed and that it should meet all the objectives set out in the New Era Publications Act of 1992.This included establishing regional bureaus and becoming a daily newspaper before the end of the current financial year, Information Minister Nangolo Mbumba said when motivating his Ministry’s budget in the National Assembly on Thursday.He noted that the Namibian Press Agency (Nampa) was under severe financial strain because of a lack of funding.During this financial year, the press agency stands to receive N$8,1 million.But Mbumba said the agency was constantly losing qualified staff, unable to acquire the necessary equipment for its operations and to fully implement its business plan.