THE government has emphasised that it will not compromise on any offshore activity that will affect the safety and economic lives of the local fishing communities.
The Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr Emmanuel Armah Buah, who said this stressed that the activities of local fishing communities and offshore oil exploitation were very important.
He gave the assurance during interactions with fishermen at Sekondi/Takoradi, Shama and other coastal communities along the Western Region,
He said the government was doing everything possible to ensure that before the country poured its first oil, an acceptable agreement would have been concluded with the fishing communities to ensure industrial peace.
The deputy minister said there were still reports that some fishermen continued to operate close to the rig, which he described as one of the most dangerous places in the maritime domain to fish.
“We understand that marine culture are attracted to rigs all over the world because of the high light and food particles but it was not safe for them to go to areas which have been declared danger zones,” he said.
He said there was no decision to stop thousands of people engaged in the centuries old fishing industry from carrying out their activities but as a government it was its duty to come up with modalities to ensure that both the offshore exploration and fishing activities co-existed without an extra cost to the state.
On the issue of premix, the deputy energy minister explained that the colour of the fuel had to be changed to forestall any malpractices by fishermen at landing beaches.
He urged the fishermen to report any noticeable corrupt practices to the security agencies for necessary action to be taken to rid the industry of vices.
He said at the moment some stakeholders who had previously clamoured to transport the products to landing sites were now shying away from the business with the new colour, and with the GPRS tracking device it was difficult to divert the premix fuel.
During question time a section of the fishermen asked that there must be a distinction between party politics and premix issues.
They attributed the formation of allocation committees at the beaches to the increasing number of dealers who were the cause of the corruption and diversion.
The fishermen said since 1994 political interference in the allocation, distribution and sale of premix fuel had been the cause of confusion that always surrounded the premix fuel trade.
The fishermen commended efforts by past and present governments to always make pre-mix fuel available to them but noted that because of corruption and selfishness, there was a proliferation of outlets from 128 in 2001 to 900 at the end of 2008.”
According to the chief fisherman of new Takoradi, Nana Ekwaw Ackon, the current composition of the allocation committees was made up of two operators in marine and inland sectors.
He said members of the committee, representing the marine sector, were the chief fisherman, representatives of canoe owners and fishmongers, one ordinary fisherman appointed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and a representative of metropolitan/municipal and district assemblies.
The inland sector is represented on the allocation committee by the chief fisherman, transport and boat owners, any fisherman also appointed by the ministry and a fishmonger.
“We think these arrangements are good, but we the fishermen are not getting hold of the premix. There is still some political under-currents in the distribution of the premix fuel which will defeat the good intentions of the government for the fisheries sector,” he said.
He said the proper thing to do was to ensure that members suggested in their proposal for the composition of the allocation committees must be allowed to work.
He appealed to the minister to ensure that the issue of premix fuel was not politicised.
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