Kamanda Kamara, the deputy master of fishermen at Old Wharf, Wellington in the East of Freetown, has on Saturday called on the Government to reduce taxes imposed on them because they are not having enough catch as a result of the bad weather and curfew which starts at 11:00pm.
He said that their time to fish is limited and they mostly have good catch during late at sea.
“Some of us will return home with no catch due to the curfew and bad weather. And we can only have money when we have fish. We are appealing to the government to ease the taxation on us. We need to take care of our families, maintenance our boats, maintenance our machines and repair our fishing nets,” he said.
He said that they maintain their boats themselves, and pay Le 1,500,000 at the end of six months for each boat.
He condemned the unhygienic act of some people who defecate in the water.
Kamara further explained that there is no source of water. “The entire wharf is surrounded by salt water; we have no means to have access to good drinking water.”
He pledged his commitment in the fight against the coronavirus. He appealed to the government to increase their time of fishing so that they could be able to do fishing in order to sustain their families and meet their tax responsibility.
He also called on the government to provide them with machines, fishing boats and nets, toilet facility and good sources of water.
By Ibrahim S. Bangura
07/07/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7860