President of the Fishermen Association, Joseph Nii Armah Quaye, has assured he will engage the Fisheries Ministry on how to support the families of two fishermen who died at Tema Newtown.
To him, the incident is unfortunate and could have been avoided.
He has, therefore, condemned the operation of a patrol team that led to the death of two fishermen at Tema Newtown.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Nii Armah admitted he got in touch with the Ministry with the Tema Mayor present when a directive was given for a letter to be submitted.
“You inform the relevant authorities and if this has happened there is nothing we can do. But if we are going to arrest people at sea, we must be professional so I will condemn the way the patrol team went about their operation.
“The naval officers are there to protect us 24/7 and they should attach a human face when making an arrest. They could have taken the people to the marine police station if they felt they had defied the closed-season order,” he stated.
However, he was not informed when the permission letter was written.
“They should have prompted me to follow up because they even wanted premix fuel but that didn’t happen. I’m not part, certain things cannot be done,” he said.
“It is unfortunate that people took the law into their own hands. They wrote a letter to the minister and they were supposed to get a reply but it seems that did not go through.”
The two died at sea in the early hours of Thursday, sparking a furore between fishers and port authorities over the cause of death.
They were part of 12 men who were on a ritual Homowo fishing expedition, when a patrol boat from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority rammed into their canoe at the Tema Port anchorage, causing it to capsize.
One of the deceased fishermen, Francis Acquaye Allotey, who is in his late 30s, is said to have left behind three children including a class three and class one pupil and a newborn baby.
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