Agri National

Kpong Fisherfolks Desperate For Outboard Motors

By Prince Paul Amuzu:

Fisher folks at the Kpong Fishing harbour in the Eastern region have called for government assistance to enable them acquire outboard motors to assist them in their profession.

The fishermen who made the call in an interview with Rite news explained that acquiring the motors would greatly contribute to the improvement in their job.

Justice, a fisherman at Kpong who spoke to this reporter bordering on a myriad of challenges confronting their activities identified the issue of outboard motors as a critical talking point among him and his colleagues.

‘Acquiring the outboard motors is crucial in helping we the fishermen because it can facilitate our movement to and from our fishing expeditions. With the help of the motors, we can go very far and return in a short time. Without the motors, we spend a lot of time on the lakes and the paddling of the canoe leaves us very exhausted,’ Justice lamented to Rite news.

He nevertheless appreciated the need in accessing government assistance in this regard only through the affected fisherfolks forming a united front to propagate their plight.

‘The ministries of Fishes and the agric ministry should assist the farmers in acquiring the outboard motors at subsidized rates. For this to happen however, we need to come together as a group and seek this sort of assistance from the government.’

This he added is because they don’t have the financial wherewithal to acquire an outboard motor. According to him, this is seriously affecting their business and above all putting their lives at risk.

Another advantage he notes borders around the fact that fishing with a boat enables fishers harvest more fish as well as easily riding back home in the event of a windstorm or rainfall.

Another fisherman, Michael tells Rite news that some of them have already approached some financial institutions to help them acquire the motors.

“Everybody needs an outboard motor for their operations; the problem however is the cost and how we can finance it. We have therefore approached a financial institution to support us with loans,’ he bemoaned.

The fishermen therefore pleaded with the government to come to their aid by providing them with loans to enable them afford the cost of the outboard motors.

Source: ritefmonline.org

 

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