CM orders fish row resolved
Published on: Tuesday, November 25, 2014
KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Hj Aman wants the Sabah Fishery Marketing Agency (Safma) to investigate and clarify the Kota Kinabalu Fishing Boat Owners Association's claim of high charges allegedly imposed by a company appointed by the agency."I want Safma to resolve this issue. We cannot have an indefinite strike by these fishermen. It is affecting the livelihoods of the fishmongers," he said, in a brief statement, Monday.
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He said a solution must be reached because if the matter were allowed to drag on, the public would also be greatly affected by exorbitant fish prices."It is my hope that parties concerned can come to an understanding and work toward a reasonable solution that is acceptable to all," he said. The fishing boat owners association had last week complained about the high fee being imposed by the company managing the fish landing jetty at Safma.As a result, the fishing boat owners decided to go on strike until the fee issue is settled causing fish supply at the central market here to dwindle with some fish vendors mulling over increasing the price of fish.
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About 80 per cent of about 140 fishing boats under the KKFBOA ceased operations since last Thursday to avoid further losses caused by what they claim as high charges imposed at a jetty by a company appointed by Safma. Meanwhile, the spat between the private city jetty operator and fishermen continued Monday with no solution in sight to the fee fiasco as the on-going no-fishing strike entered its fifth day.
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Fish supply was already running low after the strike was launched last week, with hundreds of fishmongers already pressed by the situation, hiking the prices of fish.The price of Basung – one of the cheapest and popular fish sold in Putatan – was as much as RM12 per kg, up from RM8 a few days ago.Members of the KK Fishing Boats' Owner Association (KKFBOA) launched the protest last week, after thugs from Sarawak were allegedly hired by concessionaire, Sejahtera Bumimas, to extract the fees from local fishermen. But Sejahtera Bumimas' appointed Security Manager, Billy Koh, said he had only been firm and diplomatic in collecting the fees from fishermen, brushing aside allegations about thugs being hired to do the job for it. "We only have 11 personnel, seven are local staff, while only a two are from Sarawak (one being himself)," said Koh, as he recalled what had happened days before the protest on Nov. 20. Koh said he assumed duty as Security Manager on Nov. 11, but after two days of familiarisation, he began carrying out his task, to collect the fee from the fishermen. He denied that his men had threatened visitors or fishermen since his company took over security management on appointment by Sejahtera Bumimas. "We only asked them to pay their current fee. I also handed over to them a form for them to sign. They agreed to pay the fee, but were not willing to endorse the document," said Koh. "I promised them that whatever debts they had, they could discuss them with Sejahtera Bumimas and settle it amicably," he added. This went on without trouble for a week but on Nov. 20, the fishermen, without warning, decided to go on strike after Sejahtera Bumimas decided to revise rates for the umpteenth time. "Without an official response to the fees, the fishermen went on strike. They just suddenly stopped fishing. They refused to discuss," he said. Both Sejahtera Bumimas and the association were embroiled in a six-month protracted squabble and despite several meetings mediated by the Sabah Fisheries Marketing Authority (Safma) the problem remained unsolved. Koh explained that most of the fishermen now owe Sejahtera Bumimas hundreds of thousands ringgit in outstanding fees from December 2013.And as a result, Sejahtera Bumimas is believed to be now in debt with Safma. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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