Fishermen along the coastal areas of Central Region are furious at President John Evans Atta Mills against what they described as the President’s inability to “drastically reduce the price of pre-mix oil” as he promised in the run-up to the 2008 elections.
The fisher folks, who operate in Elmina, Moree, Cape Coast and Abandze in the Central Region, have therefore threatened to take to the streets to demonstrate against the NDC government, if the President failed to act as early as practicable.
According to the irate fishermen, even though the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has directed the National Premix Committee to sell premix at GH ¢2.50p, the commodity is still widely sold at GH ¢2.70p throughout the country.
Consequently, the fishermen who could not understand and cope with the situation also gave the NDC government a-31-day ultimatum to immediately institute full scale investigations into why that directive has not been heeded to by the premix committee.
The warning was issued by the fishermen at a press conference organized by a group calling itself Concerned People’s Forum (CPF) on Tuesday, 16th February, 2010, at Elmina in the Komenda Edina Aguafo Abrem Constituency of the Central Region.
The spokesman for the fishermen, Isaac Newton Dick, noted that the issue of premix played a vital role in the electoral victory of the NDC in 2008 following the failure of the then NPP government to properly handle the pre-mix saga matter at the time.
This, he admitted, enabled majority of fishermen to have confidence and assurance in the NDC based on its 2008 promise that when voted into power they would improve the wellbeing of fishermen in the country.
He stressed that unfortunately that promise of the NDC as of the time it was in opposition at the time “has eventually turned out to be a lie.”
Continuing, he questioned why the NPA have made it a point not to consult the fisher folks when prices of the commodity are being reviewed.
“Where is the transparency in the pricing of premix that the fishermen were promised; where is the protection of prices by the National Premix Committee for the fishermen, and why is it that when prices are determined by the NPA that of super or petrol are also not increased,” Mr Newton Dick enquired.
According to him, when Mr Kufuor was in office premix oil was sold without any additional extra charges by way of taxes, but the country still benefited in diverse ways.
The group was further unhappy about the way some chief fishermen who were against the illegal pricing of premix in the area have been laid off by the local premix committee.
When Today corned some of the fishermen on the sidelines of the press conference, they alleged that some high profile individuals in government have opened a secret account to keep the extra GH 20p charge on the product to enable them undertake effective campaign in the 2012 election in the region.
It would be recalled that the then flag bearer of the NDC, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, accused the erstwhile NPP government led by Mr J. A. Kufuor, of being insensitive towards the plights of fishermen in the country, and promised to better the lot of fishermen in the country.
STORY: FROM MAGDALENE SEY, ELMINA
