NERPO’s REACTION ON THE STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS
11 Feb 2010
The National Emergent Red Meat Producers Organisation (NERPO) has welcomed President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address with few areas of concern on how government prioritizes the agricultural sector, as a major player in the country’s economy.
“As expected, government continues to show less priority on the agricultural sector as a key pillar of our economy. We had expected to emphasize on a turn-around strategy on agricultural development” said the Group Managing Director of NERPO, Mr. Aggrey Mahanjana.
The organization has applauded government for putting aside over R846 billion for public infrastructure. NERPO was however quick to plead with the Minister of Finance Dr. Parvin Ghordan to take into account, during his Budget Speech, the need to allocate a certain percentage towards the maintenance of public infrastructure.
“The challenge of government has over the years been its ability to maintain public infrastructure and it is key that we avoid a repeat of this going forward” Mahanjana added
NERPO also welcomed the introduction of an integrated development plan on land reform, agriculture and rural development. In the absence of a depth in the President’s speech on how this plan will be implemented, NERPO hopes that both the Minister of Finance and Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform will provide a finer detail on how this plan will be implemented.
NERPO further praised government on its plan to strengthen public service delivery by employing a people-oriented service delivery approach in which both Ministers and public servants are required to make a public commitment by signing outcome-based performance management agreements. The President highlighted that the public service require public servants who are dedicated, capable and care for the needs of the people.
“We are pleased that government has employed a crystal plan to monitor and oversee the work of Local Government. Upping the socks in Local Government will ensure that farmers enjoy the much needed infrastructural support programmes, from their respective municipalities” Mahanjana added
NERPO is the official mouthpiece of the emerging livestock farmers and is determined to ensure that its members become major economic players in the value chain of the red meat industry.
End.
Further Enquiries:
Aggrey Mahanjana
Group Managing Director
Cell : +27 (0) 82 556 7297
Tell : +27 (0) 12 348 8566
Email : gmd@nerpo.org.za
Website: www.nerpo.org.za
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