[ 2016-05-04 ]

‘Mahama has collapsed fishing industry’ - Central Region fishermen lament
Fishermen from the Central Region say the fishing
industry has collapsed because of the worsening
economic conditions, rising cost of living, and
the blatant flouting of fishing laws.

According to them the collapse is happening under
the watch of President John Mahama

Fishermen, from Komenda to Nyanyaano, on Monday,
May 2, made this known at an interaction with the
2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic
Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at a meeting
in Elmina, in the Central Region.

Mr. Kobina Baidoo, one of the two representatives
tasked by the fishermen to lay their concerns
before the NPP flagbearer, noted that fishermen,
in the last 7 years, have been unable to keep up
with the prices of inputs needed for the smooth
running of their operations.

“When President Rawlings left office, the price
of an outboard motor was GH¢1,600, and by the
time President Kufuor left office the price was
GH¢2,950. Under President Mahama, the price of an
outboard is now GH¢12,000,” he said.

He added that “a gallon of premix fuel under
President Rawlings sold for GH¢0.40p and
increased to GH¢1.80 when President Kufuor left
office. The price under President Mahama is now
GH¢7.30 a gallon.”

Even at this “exorbitant price”, KobinaBaidoo
noted, that fishermen are unable to get premix
fuel to buy because, according to him, “the
Mahama government only distributes it to cronies,
NDC constituency executives and NDC members”.

In the quest for power, the fisherman from Elmina
recollected how then candidate Mills told
fisherfolk that, because President Kufuor did not
hail from the coastal belt, he did not have
sympathy for people from the coast.

“However, upon winning power in 2008, they are
the ones who have destroyed the fishing industry.
As we speak, we have over 500 pair trawling
vessels operating on our seas, and leaving us with
no stocks.

“We can’t even, on our own, purchase outboard
motors. This is the reason why the Mahama
government is sharing outboard motors in an
election year, all because of politics. If we
could purchase the ouboard motoes by ourselves,
why would there be any need for government to
bring us outboard motors at subsidised prices? It
is because the fishing industry has collapsed,
that’s why we cannot buy these inputs
ourselves,” he concluded.

Upsurge in illegal fishing

The Chief fisherman of Aboadze, Nana Adams, who
also spoke at the meeting bemoaned the suffering
and hunger currently prevailing along the coastal
areas of the country, attributing it to the
dramatic upsurge in illegal fishing activities,
the collapse of social intervention policies
introduced by the NPP, and corruption and thievery
in high places of government.

He indicated that the Kufuor-led NPP government,
of which Nana Akufo-Addo was an integral part, put
in place measures that cushioned fishermen from
every part of the country. Those measures, he
stated, had collapsed under President Mahama.

“The wives of fishermen were given free maternal
care whenever they got pregnant. In fact, they
delivered for free. The NPP introduced the school
feeding programme, introduced the National Health
Insurance Scheme, amongst other social
intervention programmes. All these measures
brought relief to fishermen and our families. All
these measures have collapsed,” he added.

Agya Adams also blamed the rise in “illegal
fishing methods” as a major contributory factor
to the collapse of the industry, stressing that
the laws governing fishing are being flouted with
impunity under the Mahama government.

“The issue of pair trawlers is destroying the
industry. I am reliably told that officialdom own
most of these trawlers. Indeed, I can say for a
fact that the Vice President is importing 20
trawlers into the country. Whilst we are
struggling to rid our seas of pair trawlers, the
Vice President is bringing in more. Over-fishing
is what is destroying our seas and our fishing
stocks,” the Aboadze Chief fisherman said

He continued, “Because the industry has
collapsed, we don’t even have a cold store in
Elmina. We don’t even get fish, let alone send
them to cold stores for storage. This government
has deliberately collapsed the fishing industry,
so we have no choice but to give it to another
person, and that person is Nana Akufo-Addo.

Together with Chief fishermen from the major
fishing communities in the region, they indicated
their resolve toward working hard to ensuring that
“Nana Akufo-Addo wins the election to save the
fishing industry.”

The fishermen had requests for the NPP flagbearer
when he wins the 2016 elections, which include:
the construction of a warehouse for fishermen to
house their inputs, and also serve as a retail
store for the entire fishing belt; the
establishment of a special bank for fisherman to
aid in the acquisition loans and credit facilities
for their operations; and ensure direct linkage
between the Ministry of Fisheries and fishermen.

Source - Myjoyonline.com

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