The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Land Reform, Inge Zaamwani, has confirmed that over 100 employees at Merlus Cormorand Fishing have not returned to work and have not received their salaries.

The announcement was made after IPC MP Michael Mulunga questioned whether it could be due to failures in the Government Employment Redress programme.

"We thought the issues of the government redress programme had been addressed by now, especially after we saw that there was a high-level delegation of the President, the ministers and almost the entire cabinet in support of wanting to address the issues of the fishermen. However, these issues remain unresolved to this day.

Zaamwani stated that the matter is being dealt with under the redress programme.

She also stated that the Agriculture Ministry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations, are planning to engage the company to revise contractual arrangements and sign a fresh agreement.

"You find that sometimes the contract has been signed from a governmental level, but there are issues at an employer-employee level where those things are not sorted. And as long as that particular employer does not present us with the evidence of a signed employment contract, then the quotas will not be released until such time that that contract has been signed."