Tema, April 29, GNA - Canoe fishermen operating at the Tema Canoe Beach have appealed to the government to reduce the price of outboard motors. The fishermen said the high cost of the outboard motor and other equipme= nt was affecting their operations.

Nii Odametey, the Chief Fisherman at the Tema Canoe Beach, told the Ghan= a News Agency in an interview that the GH¢4,900 price of the outboard mot= or was too expensive for the fishermen and canoe owners. He said the current price showed an increase of over GH¢1,000, as comp= ared to that of last two years, which was about GH¢3,500.

The Chief Fisherman said even though government imported the outboard motors and sold them to the fishermen at subsidized prices, they wanted a=

significant reduction in the prices. He said government used to give the outboard motors to fishermen on cred= it but the practice was stopped due to the inability of some of his colleagu= es to honour their payment obligations. Nii Odametey said such high cost of fishing equipment was factored into the selling of fish, leading to high cost of fish on the market. He pleaded with the Ministries of Energy and Food and Agriculture to increase the pre-mix fuel allocated to the beach. Nii Odametey said even though the Tema Canoe Beach received the highest pre-mix fuel allocations, it was not enough for its huge demand, especial= ly during the bumper season. He suggested that their allocation should be raised from the present=

three tankers a week to five tankers during the fishing season. 29 April 10