The chairman of the National premix Fuel Committee, Nii Lante Bannerman, has warned Fishermen in and their collaborators to stop smuggling premix fuel since they would be severely punished when caught .
He said the government of the New Patriotic Party would not tolerate the acts of illegal smuggling, hoarding and over pricing of premix fuel which were practiced under the National Democratic Congress.
Mr Bannerman made this known in Accra on Tuesday at a sensitization seminar for coastal landing beach committees and the National Premise fuel committee in Accra.
He indicate that anyone caught smuggling , hoarding or inflating the price of premix fuel would be handed over to the police for prosecution and the minimum jail term would be two years.
The event brought together Chief fishermen, fishermen, canoe owners , fishmongers among other stakeholder to discuss issues of pre-mix fuel , how it could be effectively delivered to them and efficient distribution.
The participants were taken through the legislative instrument precipitating the establishment of the Landing Beach committees , LI 2233, the functions of the landing beach committee, tenure of office of the landing beach committee and the role of the executives of the Premix fuel committee
They were also sensitized on how to actively participate in community project identification, design , implementation and monitoring, how to generate awareness , motivate action, encourage LBCs to be transparent in their work in order to increase community support for their activities.
The director of Fisheries at the Ministry of Fisheries, Mr Michael Dadzie also called on Fishermen to stop fishing illegally.
“we are all responsible for what id happening. We must stop it. This time authorities are serious about it. it is canker that is destroying our fishing industry . We must protect the fishing industry for our benefit and for the benefit of the future generation .light fishing , chemical fishing and using unapproved fishing for fishing expedition must stop. When the task force begins its work and arrest you, yu will be dealt with severely .
Members were tasked to take records of all activities making premix delivery of fuel distribution and adopting strategies to meet the needs of all fishermen.
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