Some fishermen at Apam waiting for premix to buy
Investigations conducted by Today in Apam in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region have revealed that there is dire shortage of pre-mix fuel used by fishermen as fuel for their outboard motors to power their canoes and trawlers.
And the shortage has hit the Apam town, because the public agency responsible for the distribution, the district pre-mix committee, allocates large volumes of the fuel to their favourite fishermen who then hoard it and sell it to fishermen at cut-throat profits.
In an interview with one of the fishermen, Nana Kobina Wie, he explained that the official price of a gallon of pre-mix fuel is GH?2.70, but the hoarders sell itat GH?5.00 per gallon.
?Since we have no other option we are compelled to buy it, and those who cannot afford it park their canoes for weeks until they can,? he disclosed.
The hoarding has created artificial shortage of pre-mix fuel making it severely scarce in Apam, to the extent that some fishermen have resorted to buyingand using petrol in their outboard motors.
Today?s investigations also uncovered the persistent allegation that the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Gomoa West, Mr. Theophilus Aidoo Mensah,is conniving with the cartel of pre-mix distributors and their abetting fishermen to create the scarcity and thus make astronomical profits on the sale of the fuel.
In an interview, however, Mr. Aidoo Mensah denied any involvement in the hoarding-and-profiteering scheme saying ?As a DCE, I don?t even go to the beach, not to talk of interfering in the sale of pre-mix.?
According to him, he heard about the scheme causing the scarcity of the fuel and in Apam.
He therefore invited the National Premix Coordinator, Mr. Kwaku Nicole, and a member of the National Premix Committee, Mr. John Quayson popularly known as Maanoma, and together they went to the fishermen to warn them to stop the hoarding.
Mr. Aidoo Mensah said: ?I even had to involve the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) in the process in the hope of putting fear into the fishermen to deter them. I personally gave him GH?200.00 to pretend to be interested in buying the fuel as a way of luring out the hoarders, but up till now we have not arrested even a single person.?
?We have regular supply of pre-mix fuel,? he pointed out, ?but what is going on in the area? always makes it scarce??
He expressed the assurance that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) national administration is committed to the development of the fishing industry and will do nothing to jeopardise the industry.
He therefore charged stakeholders including chiefs in the area to get involved to ensure that the hoarding perpetrators are arrested.
Nana KobinaWie stated the obvious that the artificial scarcity of pre-mix situation is killing the fishing industry.
?Sometimes we have to wait for three whole weeks before we get one consignment and when it comes it is not enough, so we have to queue for long hours to get it,? he told this reporter.
However, he commended government for not increasing the price of pre-mix fuel in the recent fuel-prices hikes.
Another fisherman, Kwaku Takyi, called on government to increase the allocation of pre-mix fuel to Apam, one of the busiest coastal areas in the country.
Apam, he said, ?needs about three tankers every week instead of the one tanker per two or three weeks, because we have a lot of canoes.?
Kwaku Takyi also suggested that the Apam?s chief fisherman rather than the pre-mix committee must be given charge of the sale and distribution of the fuel, since that will end the hoarding and scarcity, which is killing their business.
STORY: FROM MAGDALENE SEY, APAM, C/R.
