Significant updates are planned for fishing facilities across the country.
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ravi Ratiram, says the improvements are necessary for the industry.
Speaking to TTT News, he noted that several fishermen have expressed concern that their issues are not being addressed.
“When we look around the country, fishermen feel abandoned as well. What they have seen over the years gone by is that they were abandoned out at sea, and they were abandoned on the land. Abandoned out at sea because our Coast Guard system had totally collapsed. There was no kind of patrol. There was no support. There was a high level of piracy that fishermen were facing outside there. The borders were totally open, and pirates were just being allowed to bully our fisherfolk, so they felt very abandoned out there. But on land, their facilities are in a very dilapidated state.”
Minister Ratiram noted that visits to fishing facilities have begun in an effort to get a firsthand look at their current state. Most recently, the Minister, accompanied by Claxton Bay Member of Parliament Hansen Narinesingh, visited the Claxton Bay Fishing Facility.
“I went along with the MP. He would have gotten a commitment from corporate entities in the community who are willing to contribute towards it. So having completed that visit, it was important that we recognise the need for refurbishment activity. They are going to be scoping the project, and we are going to be rolling out some refurbishment work at that facility.”
He assured that the work does not stop there.
“We went to Mayaro. We went with the Minister and the MP for that area, Honourable Nicholas Morris, and we would have visited the fishing facility in Ortoire, we have visited Guaya, La Brea area, and again, all these facilities were just being abandoned by the last administration. We are going to be doing some refurbishment works out there and in other communities. We will continue to see how we could work with our fisherfolk to provide a more safe environment for them to operate, whether it is on land or on the sea.”
Minister Ratiram spoke exclusively with TTT News during a visit to the Upper El Dorado Community Centre, where the National Agriculture Training Initiative was hosted.