By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Fishing boat owners have threatened to embark on a strike action against a new license policy proposed by the government.
The proposed fee of Le1.5million is expected to be paid by every boat owner annually.
License fee collectors have already been deployed at various fishing communities to start the collection. Since the year is midway gone, the fishermen said the government has asked them to pay only Le 500, 000 for 2019. And they have until the end of this month to complete the payment.
But the sudden increase in the license fee has generated anger and frustration in fishing communities across the country.
At Goderich River Wharf, also known as Funkia Wharf, fishermen told Politico that it would be difficult for them to cooperate with the government with the new fees which they say is too high. Boat owner Orbai Conteh said the prevalent difficult economic condition makes it even harder for them to honor the request. “We were paying a license fee of Le 150, 000 and now the government says we should pay the sum of Le 500,000 for the remaining six months. This means we have to pay Le 1million for a year. We will not accept the new fee and we will embark on a sit down strike action,” Conteh said, noting that they are already bugged down by high operational costs in the fishing sector.
“A fishing net costs between Le1.3million and Le 1.6million. An outboard machine costs Le28million and the price of a piece of board is Le 55, 000. Now a new burden has been placed on us by the government,” the elderly fisher lamented.
Conteh warned that the local fishing industry risks collapsing with this new license fee, in the face of an already difficult situation occasioned by low catches and aggravated by recurrent fuel crisis.
Hassan Sesay, a fisherman for over 20 years, said it’s regrettable that the new license fee was pronounced in the face of an already difficult situation.
“Few days back,” he explained, “eight boats were stranded at the wharf owing to the lack of fuel. We could not get fuel” and “at the end, all the boats did not go fishing. That is very bad for us.”
Sesay added: “I don’t think the President knows about this increase in license fee taken by the Ministry of Fisheries.”
Papa Mansaray, Headman of the Funkia Fishing community, supported the idea for of a strike action if the government insists on pushing on with the new policy.
“Since we are self-employed, we can embark on a sit-down strike action indefinitely until the government reduces the license fees,” he said.
Published in print on 2 July 2019
© 2019 Politico Online
