Regional News of Thursday, 28 February 2013

Source: GNA

Fishermen call for investigation in premix sale in Winneba

Members of the Simpaman Fishermen Association have appealed to the government to investigate how middle men manage to get large consignments of premix fuel and sell them exorbitantly to fishermen in Winneba and other coastal areas in the Central Region.

According to them, the premix fuel supposed to be sold at 2.70 Ghana cedis, is being sold by the middle men at 6.00 Ghana cedis, a situation they described as unacceptable and affecting the fishing industry in the country.

Mr Ekow Sakum, Treasurer of the Association made this known at a press briefing to express their displeasure about the activities of middle men in Winneba.

He said while the Premix Fuel Committee is not getting regular supply of the product, these middlemen always have large quantities of the product.

Mr Sakum, an Assemblyman for Winneba Fetteh Electoral Area, appealed to the government to ensure regular supply of the product to discourage fishermen from buying from middlemen.

He said because of the irregular supply of the product, most fishermen are compelled by the circumstance to buy petrol and engine oil or buy from the middle men before they can go fishing.

Mr Sakum expressed appreciation to the new Member of Parliament for Effutu, Mr Alex Afenyo Markin, for his effort to obtain outboard motors for fishermen in Winneba on high purchase.

He expressed the hope that the move made by the MP would be continued to minimize the difficulties fishermen in Winneba go through before getting fishing gears.