Fishermen in Choiseul are reeling under hardships – and it’s not just from the high cost of fuel but also from the state of the facilities at the Fisheries Complex.
 |
| A CATCH OF TUNA |
It’s less than six months ago since they lost one of their members as a result of a massive heart attack. The young man walked into the cold, early morning sea water and was about to board the vessel to go to sea, when he suffered a massive heart attack. One theory is it was his exposure to the cold morning water that triggered the tragedy. It is something that could happen to any of our fishermen.
But could that tragedy be avoided, if the young man didn’t have to immerse his lower body into the cold sea water?
 |
| AN EMPTY POOL: THE BOATS CAN'T COME IN! |
Under the labour government, the Japanese built a state of the art Fisheries Complex for the Choiseul fishermen; and indeed they were happy! But gradually -almost unnoticeably – the coastal dynamics were wreaking havoc on the facility, filling it gradually with sand until it became inaccessible to users.
 |
| BACK TO THE OLD WAY OF DOING BUSINESS |
During the reign of the labour Government, the Ministries of Communication and Works and Agriculture constantly provide support to the Cooperative and the fishermen were never inconvenienced or displaced.
 |
| WONDERFUL SIGHT TO BEHOLD |
Then a foolish thing happened under the Flambeau gov’t. They extended the “sea-wall “at the entrance of the pool by about 50 ft. That apparently worsened the problem because it further hindered the free coastal dynamics, and the accumulation of sand into the pool happened with greater frequency.
 |
| EXTENSION TO THE SEA-WALL CAUSED MORE PROBLEMS |
Now the pool is filled every two weeks, and the fishermen have to resort to the old traditional way to haul their boats on the beach.
No comments:
Post a Comment