Africa-Press – Cape verde. The president of the Cape Verde Fishing Shipowners Association (APESC) said this Monday that the class feels cheated by the latest increase in the price of marine diesel and that the solution is to stop the vessels.
The decision came from an assembly held on the afternoon of this Monday, 4th, in Mindelo. On Friday, the 7th, the organization should meet, tenth time, with the Government, from whom it expects a solution.
“Under these conditions, we will not be able to survive and the proposal we are going to make to other operators and shipowners is to stop the vessels and sit at the table with the Government to give us a solution”, said the president of APESC, João e Deus Lima.
Lima is strange, on the other hand, the bills that resulted in the increase because, he recalled, the prime minister took a diploma to parliament, in its last session, which was approved, with a 20% reduction in the consumption tax rate, which passed to six escudos/liter.
“How is it possible, a week later, the regulatory agency manages to approve prices for marine diesel with an increase of 37.2%”, questioned the same source, when, he continued, the sector is “in bankruptcy” and “ no shipowner” will be able to put the ships at sea to fish.
Sal fishing complex remains closed
All of this, he indicated, not counting the issue of the fishing complex on the island of Sal, “which never opened”, and no one answers the shipowners why that unit remains closed.
He explained that most of the capture of the melva species takes place in the region of the island of Sal and that the existing fishing complex is part of the agreement of the Government establishment convention with the canning company Frescomar.
“If this complex were working, the shipowners could hold out a little longer (…), so someone should explain to us whether in fact there is a policy to support the sector or not”, concluded João de Deus Lima.
fuel fund
Addressed on the position of the Cape Verde Fishing Shipowners Association , the Minister of the Sea, Abraão Vicente, acknowledged that, despite the measures taken by the Government, “it was not possible to prevent” this increase in the price of marine diesel, which classifies it as “brutal”.
“We are designing a set of measures, including the implementation of the fuel fund to give shipowners the possibility of having a working capital, through Apesc, and we are also studying compensation measures”, the minister said.
Abraão Vicente confirmed the meeting with APESC and other sector associations for this week to present some solutions that the Government has already designed.
“Within what is the package, the impact will be absorbed by the Government, and the fisheries fund and the maritime security fund will enter to compensate part of what is the increase”, concluded the Minister of the Sea.
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