E’bo Fishermen slam MARAD over delay in issuing Captain Licence

May 25, 2018 News

As fishermen sat in a multi stakeholder meeting held last Tuesday, the concerns affecting the fishing industry in Region Two were raised. One of them was the delay in the issuing of fishermen’s licence.
Fishermen who had applied for a captain licence through the Maritime Administration [MARAD], are claiming that it takes an extensive period before that licence can actually be issued. While some captains say it takes about two to three month before their licences are issued, others are claiming that they have to wait for as long as four to six months.
Region Two with its growing fishing industry is located some 38.5 miles away from the capital City. Many head offices have established sub-offices within the region, in an effort to take their services closer to residents–MARAD is just one.

Fishermen at the meeting

Despite having an office in Charity, however, many fishermen are allegedly directed to MARAD’s head office in Georgetown for licensing. These fishermen claim that while they are being ‘pushed around’ in Georgetown, the local office at Charity should be more proactive.
Commenting on the local office, one fisherman explained, “The people at the office in Charity gotta start working on time. On two separate occasions, I went to the office at 1:30pm, and the office already close up. The officers there are not available when yuh go in, so they don’t ever check anything.”
It was recommended that MARAD make all the relevant licensing documents available at the office in Charity to speed up the licensing process.
This publication was told that the inspection of vessels is also the responsibility of the Maritime Administration. Again, this inspection is done by the head office in Georgetown, according to a fisherman.
Fishermen are claiming, however, that quite often there’s no representative from MARAD who shows up to inspect these fishing vessels.
One fisherman said, “There is a day, some boat come in for a couple days and they go back on the sea again for days, sometimes even 13 days. When you call these people to come inspect the boat so the licence can renew, them never show up. When they do show up is when yuh out on the sea again.”
While the delay in the licensing process is one issue, there is another challenge that fishermen encounter at sea with the Coast Guards.
According to reports, fishermen are being ‘harassed’ by the coast guards at sea, despite having receipt to prove that their licences are being processed.
During the meeting last Tuesday, claims were also made that fishermen are forced to bribe their way past these coastguards.
Another fisherman said, “When we reach in Georgetown, its different story with the coast guards there. How long yuh ain’t give away 10 and some gas, yuh can’t pass… One time, my crew was held up and locked up because they didn’t had they licence and I wasn’t prepared to bribe anybody. If we have our licence now, all we have to do is show them the licence pass.”
Apart from fishermen, the meeting on last Tuesday was attended by the Regional Chairman, Devenand Ramdatt, and CEO of the Department of Fisheries, Denzil Roberts.