Tobago fishermen reeling from Karen's fury

KINNESHA GEORGE-HARRY

The devastation inflicted by Tropical Storm Karen has left several fishermen reeling as their livelihoods are now jeopardised.

In Roxborough, fisherman Shevon McPherson told Newsday that eight boats in Roxborough were destroyed by the bad weather, one belonging to him.

“It get away from the anchor and come in and hit on the rock and the engine drop off right there. It mash up... inside and all break up too.

“I lost everything... my gas tank, the nylon, everything,” he said as he estimated these losses in the vicinity of $50,000.

This was mere days before the village was set to celebrate their tenth straight year of Republic Day celebrations for the country’s 43rd anniversary as a Republic.

The Republic Day festivities usually start with a parade put on by the Office of the Prime Minister under the auspices of the MP for Tobago East, Ayanna Webster-Roy, from Lammy Road to Pirates Boat yard, ending at the Cyd Gray Stadium carpark. The event was also expected to feature the annual Roxborough Regatta, hosted by the Roxborough Fishermen Association at the village’s jetty.

However, speaking with Newsday Tobago on Wednesday, president of the Tobago Association of Power Boating and Aquatic Sports, Akel Franklyn, said the regatta had been postponed.

“Due to Sunday’s weather conditions, we took the decision to postpone the event to a later date as there are a lot of logs and debris in the water. That in itself will pose a threat to the potential racers, so we thought safety first, so we decided to delay it a bit.”

Tourism, Culture and Transportation Secretary Nadine Stewart-Phillips said the cultural extravaganza at 6pm, also at the Cyd Gray Sporting complex, is scheduled to go ahead as planned, as well as the fireworks display at 8pm. This event is free to the public and features an impressive line-up of local and national acts.

Across in Parlatuvier, fisherman Newman Horsford said the fishermen lost equipment but no engines.

“We got to the bay around 3am, while we were there the river start to push all the boat them up in the rock and water flooding them, so we started swimming to them and throwing out the water. Later on, the wind begin to blow more and it sink one of the boats," he said.