Fishermen to start receiving assistance today

They are to gather at the Vessigny Community Centre between 9 a.m. and noon.

According to Minister of Agriculture, Clarence Rambharat, successful applicants were called last week. Rambharat told Newsday yesterday that 196 persons out of 412 applicants are to receive payments totalling $.5 million.

According to Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry, Claudelle McKellar, those receiving their cheques today are the first batch of more to come, as registration and validation is on-going. A total of 95 persons registered at the Vessigny Community Centre yesterday.

Asked whether the funds are being distributed equally to each applicant, Rambharat said “payments are based on urgent need and household size.” In July, thousands of dead fish started appearing along the Gulf of Paria. This, amidst conflicting reports about the cause or causes of the “fish kill”, caused the public to steer clear of fish. As a result, the fishing industry saw a drastic depletion in sales at the time of the year when parents start buying books, uniforms and sneakers for their children for the re-opening of school. After fishermen cried for months for some kind of assistance, Cabinet, on August 25, approved the distribution of $1million in “assistance” to those affected.

The Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development, began the process of distributing the funds with a registration process meant to determine whether those registered were valid fisherfolk and to assess their needs.

However, some fisherfolk from the affected areas were not happy with the way the process was handled.