Africa-Press – Cape verde. Cape Verde’s Minister of the Sea, Abraão Vicente, said this Thursday that the Government is following with “apprehension and attention” the situation of the canning company Frescomar, which, according to union leaders, laid off 200 employees due to lack of raw materials.
“We are observing this situation with some apprehension about the jobs in question, but it is essential that the unions do not transfer the labor responsibilities they must defend to the Government”, he said, on the island of São Vicente, on the sidelines of a meeting with shipowners of fishing.
Abraão Vicente said that the Government had collected “necessary information”, saying that there was “no case yet of collective dismissal”.
“I believe that around 500 workers will be at home due to the lack of raw materials”, he indicated, adding that “the transition phase is underway, in which we are waiting for another two-year derogation – which we hope to be ready in February –, which, in a way, must be behind some impasse”.
The temporary derogation from rules of origin provides a tariff reduction on several products imported by European Union countries, which has happened practically annually since 2008.
Cape Verde’s reduced national fishing capacity has been forcing Cape Verde’s processing industry to import part of the raw material for these preserves, tuna, mackerel and honey.
The derogation granted by the European Union allows preserves produced in Cape Verdean factories to be considered, even if part of the fish is imported, as originating in Cape Verde, within quantity limits.
“We are awaiting with apprehension and great attention” the evolution of the situation at Frescomar, which operates on the island of São Vicente, he summarized.
At the entrance to the meeting with fishing owners from the island of São Vicente, Abraão Vicente said that they need “access to preferential credit lines for the purchase of tuna vessels and other infrastructure”, because “it is essential that there is greater catching capacity on the part of of national shipowners”.
“It’s easy to say, but it’s not easy to implement: the national cooperative of fishing owners itself presented an ambitious project that we have had difficulty leveraging with banks”, he added.
According to the official, “it takes ant work: I hope that this year we can open up other possibilities for the sector”, he concluded.
The president of the General Industry, Food, Civil Construction and Services Union (Siacsa), Gilberto Lima, told Lusa today that 200 service providers have already been informed by Frescomar that the collaboration will not be renewed and that 165 are waiting for an outcome, in House.
Frescomar is a Cape Verdean and Spanish limited company dedicated to the processing of fish and its marketing, with Europe as its main market, and whose fish was supplied by another company, Atunlo, which is in the process of closing down at its origin, in Spain, and also in Cape Verde.
Siacsa called for a gathering of Frescomar workers, in Mindelo, São Vicente, for Friday.
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