Arrest fraudsters in premix trade — Sersah-Johnson
Fishermen and canoe owners who use premix fuel for their trade across the country have been asked to cause the arrest of middlemen and racketeers who sell premix fuel over and above the government’s subsidised price.
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The Chairman of the National Premix Fuel Committee, Mr Kweku Sersah-Johnson, gave the order during an interaction with fishermen and fishmongers at Komenda and Anomabo as part of a fact-finding tour of landing beaches in the Central Region.
He told the fishermen to refuse to pay more than the approved price of the premix fuel and/or report the fraudsters to the security agencies in their areas.
Mr Sersah-Johnson informed the fishermen and fishmongers that currently premix fuel was the only petroleum product which was being subsidised by the state because of the importance the government attached to the well-being and economic transformation of the fisherfolk.
It emerged at virtually all the interactions that most of the time the premix fuel was hoarded by unscrupulous businessmen who connived with some members of the Landing Beach Committees and other officials to resell the product far above the approved price to the detriment of the fishermen.
Monitoring sale of premix
The chairman said the committee had put in place measures to monitor the sale and distribution of the premix fuel from the production and supply points to its final destination as a means of curbing the fraudulent activities of the persons who were making illegal gains at the expense of the taxpayer and the fishermen.
Mr Sersah-Johnson disclosed that the National Premix Fuel Committee, in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, was in the process of rolling out a number of development projects designed to enhance the fishing trade and the living conditions of people engaged in the fishing industry.
He said one of such projects was the construction of modern sanitary facilities along the beaches and landing sites across the country for the benefit of the people living in those areas and that the first pilot phase would cover 50 communities.
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The facility, he further indicated, would then be extended to cover all beaches which lacked such outlets as part of plans by the government to boost the fishing and tourism industries in the country.
The chairman was accompanied on the working visit by Mr Nimerious Peng-yer, Madam Patricia Arku Ocansey, Mr Isaac Mensah and Mr Jacob Ageke Tetteh, all members of the committee.
Other beaches visited by the team included Egyaa, Nankesedo, Moree, Saltpond-Ankaful, Abandze, Biriwa, Cape Coast, Ola, Kormantse and Abrobiano.