Tobago fisherfolk: No help after TS Karen

All Tobago Fisherfolk Association president Junior Quashie has welcomed the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDPs) intervention in trying to alleviate the woes of Roxborough fishermen whose boats were damaged during the passage of Tropical Storm Karen, on September 22 last year.

Quashie told Newsday on Tuesday about nine boats were damaged when the storm battered the island.

He estimates the cost of repairing the damage to the boats could be between $200,000 and $400,000.

Quashie claimed the former Kelvin Charles-led Tobago House of Assembly (THA) did nothing to assist the distressed fisherman.

“The fishermen's boats were damaged and the House of Assembly went up there and promised to repair the boats for them. Up to the present day – zero, zero, zero. Nobody has not up to now fulfilled the promise,” Quashie said.

PDP political leader Watson Duke, who is also the Roxborough/Delaford representative, got a first-hand look at the damaged boats during a visit the area on Tuesday.

In a Facebook live, Duke promised to use some of his own resources to assist the affected fishermen to repair their boats.

However, he said the project will be a community initiative.

“This is a community-help project to fix the boats. So, we will come together with some of the guys and we are going to try to repair all of these boats because we in the Progressive Democratic Patriots are about building communities to help them to get their lives up and running.”

Recalling the THA had promised to help the fishermen, Duke lamented they are yet to receive assistance.

“We alone in the struggle. The Government, THA not helping nobody at all. Fisheries (Division) and them is a joke. All they looking for is PNM people to get votes. So, we have to do we thing.”

He added: “We don’t believe in soup kitchen like the PNM, to give a man a one days, a ten days, a four days. We must give a man a lifetime of employment that is sustainable.”

Duke said as the representative for the area, he could not sit by while the fishermen struggled to survive.

Quashie said fishermen whose boats were damaged experienced further hardship during covid19.

“So, we get a double whammy. And the fishermen in Tobago are still asking, ‘What is going on with the assembly and their promises?’”

Quashie said after Tropical Storm Karen, Charles had promised to send a team to assess the damage to the fishermen's boats.

“He (Charles) said the boats would be fixed and then suddenly he just swing around and say they would get the boats repaired but they must pay half.”

Quashie asked: “But, if my boat damaged, I works nowhere. Yes, I may have a $10,000 in the bank. But if it cost $40,0000 where am I finding the rest. So, a lot of the guys were stuck?”

Saying the fishermen are not faring well, Quashie said: “I wish Mr Duke could really assist the fishermen because remember those guys have loan to pay. Some have to mind their families. That is how bad it is.”

He said boat engines are expensive.

“Once your boat has gotten damaged, small damage, big damage, it sets you back. If you lose an engine, it is worse because an engine costing $35,000 upwards to $150,000.”

SPENCER: THERE IS A PROCESS

Quashie said he is disappointed Charles and Food Production, Forestry and Fisheries Secretary Hayden Spencer did not assist them. Charles and members of the Tobago Emergency Management Association (TEMA) visited Roxborough fishermen in the aftermath of the storm to assess the damage and speak to those affected.

Speaking to Newsday on Tuesday, Spencer said there is a system in place to assist fishermen.

He said, "There is a process by which the fishermen in Tobago are (assisted) in disaster times. They make a report to the fisheries department, the fisheries also get TEMA involved and the fishermen are compensated for their damage to their vessel.

"That is something that is established. They only way that is not going to happen is if you did not make a report to fisheries. Fisheries and TEMA would not be able to do the investigations and so on. It's a THA process and I'm aware fishermen use it and they receive their cheques and so on."

Spencer recalled one incident when a fisherman lost his entire vessel and received $250,000 compensation.
-with reporting by STEPHON NICHOLAS