An awkward encounter ensued between some fisher folks and the Member of Parliament of Shama Constituency in the Western Region during the inauguration of some landing beach committees.
The committees are expected to oversee the sale of premix fuel in the Shama District.
But some aggrieved residents who claimed to be die-hard members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) opposed and called for a rejection of some of the names in the new list provided by the DCE and the MP.
They claimed some of the members of the committee have no knowledge about fishing and its related activities.
The angry residents said most of the names on the list were carpenters, teachers and other people whose activities have no relation to fishing.
The fishermen and fishmongers who were against the names of Kesewokan, Abuesi, Aboadze and Bronyinimba as members of the committee, accused the DCE, Joseph Amoah, and the MP, Ato Panford, of manipulating list.
The Shama District Education Assembly Hall was charged following confrontations between the aggrieved persons and the MP in the presence of the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Elizabeth Naa Afoley Quaye, and the National Chairman of the National Premix Committee, Nii Lantey Bannerman.
The aggrieved fisher folk were later sent out of the hall by the police.
One woman among the protestors, Florence Ahotsui, was arrested and sent to the police station.
The sector minister, Elizabeth Naa Afoley Quaye, used the occasion to remind the fisher folk about the consequences of illegal fishing practices, urging them to desist from all forms of illegalities in the industry.
She assured of efforts by the Ministry to stop the trawlers from operating areas reserved for canoe fishing, adding that a task force will soon be on the sea to enforce the laws.
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