Party wants Esscom to set up protected fishing zones
Parti Warisan Sabah says fishermen from the east coast are too afraid to venture out but should not be relocated to the west coast.
In a statement today, the party’s vice-president Junz Wong pointed to recent attempts by boat operators from the east coast to shift their fishing zones to the west coast via Kota Kinabalu.
This was because they were concerned for their safety amid reports of cross-border criminal activities such as kidnap-for-ransom.
Wong said 16 boat operators had recently applied to move to Kota Kinabalu, but the move was strongly opposed by operators there. He said the fisheries department had also rejected the applications.
Wong, who is also Likas assemblyman, said he understood the situation from both sides. On one hand, fishermen from the east coast were afraid to venture out due to security issues.
On the other hand, operators in Kota Kinabalu already faced shortages in diesel and ice supplies. They also struggled with long queues for subsidised diesel and faced stiff competition from other operators in the area.
Wong added that there were only two fish mills in Kota Kinabalu, which caused huge congestion.
He said moving to the west coast was not a long-term solution as it would only cripple the fishing sector there. Instead, Esscom should set up protected fishing zones in the east coast and station marines there to protect the boats, he said.
Wong said if operators moved to the west, factories and fish mills in the east would shut down and jobs would be lost, leading to a rise in unemployment.
“It’s not their fault,” he said. “It’s the government’s fault for failing to assure security and safety despite being allocated billions for Esscom.”
He urged the state government to hold a dialogue to address the issue.
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