By Minkailu Koroma & Abdul Gogra
Fishermen and women at the Tambakula Wharf in the Aberdeen community have on Tuesday 18th October 2022, expressed their grievances over what they say is neglect of the wharf by the Government of Sierra Leone.
According to the Harbor Master, Mr. Yayah Kamara, “The harbor is presently without a toilet facility and Government has promised several times to construct toilet for us, but nothing tangible has been done about it.”
The Chairlady, of the Wharf refused to Grant Premier news an interview because she is frustrated over the fact that several media houses had conducted interviews with her about the wharf, but nothing good or developmental had come out of those interviews.
The Deputy Harbor Master, Mr. Saidu Kabia, said that Government always claim to be giving loans to fishermen and women but those loans had not been paid back to Government of Sierra Leone.
He added that most of the loans are given to people posing as fishermen and women as a way of getting the loans, and only to later default by refusing to honor their pledge to repay such loans. He said when this happens the blame unfairly falls on fishermen and women.
Mr. Kabia therefore advised the Government to always delegate to the authorities at the wharf the duty of identifying fishermen and women as potential beneficiaries of its loan schemes. He also affirmed the problem of toilet facility at the wharf.
Idrissa Sesay, who is a fisherman and a ‘Lego man,’ (one who looks after ships at sea), said that another challenge they are encountering is cooling system (cool room). He said that their catch often go bad because Wharf does not have a refrigerated cooling facility. He called on the authorities to help solve the problems mentioned above.
However, the women who trade in fish at the Wharf spoke on grounds of anonymity and said that the authorities within and outside the wharf always threaten to removed them from. She therefore called on the Government of Sierra Leone to be merciful with them. They also outlined the problem of a storage room, which they said is contributing to the fluctuation of fish prices. They said, in order to ensure that their fish do not rot; they buy ice blocks from the market which causes them to increasing their selling prices.