By: King Freeman Nutsukpoe
Fisher folks at the Sekondi Fishing Harbour in the Western Region have accused the government for its failed promises to improve the living standards of people in fishing communities across Ghana.
They bemoaned that successive governments have paid lip service instead of providing adequate support and robust welfare systems to enhance the lives of fisher folks who are major players in the country’s fishing industry.
These were revealed when some selected journalists visited the Sekondi Fishing Harbour to interact with the players within the local fishing industry as part of a capacity building for Journalists on Decent work and Labour rights towards the implementation of the ILO work in Fishing convention C188.
The training programme was organized by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The Fisher folks argue that, despite their contributions to ensure a sustainable fishing sector, the government has done little to compensate for their sacrifices.
“Nobody cares about us, no insurance, no pension, no health or medical checks. We are left to our fate especially during the closed seasons and we cannot even afford premix fuel for our fishing expeditions” one of the fishers lamented.
The National Project Coordinator of the ILO, Mr Emmanuel Kwame Mensah said it has become imperative to build the capacities of Journalists since they are the custodians of information to educate members of fishing communities on Decent Work and ILO’s work in Fishing Convention (C188).
“This capacity building workshop couldn’t have come at a better time because Ghana recently ratified the ILO Work in Fishing Convention. The ratification of this Convention means that fishers in Ghana have the opportunity to rely on an accountability framework that requires duty bearers to enforce compliance to critical labour rights”.
The provisions on the work in Fishing Convention C188 addresses many welfare related issues and decent work interventions including minimum age, recruitment and placement of fishers, medical examination, hours of rest, safe manning, crew list , fishers work agreement, payment of fishers and repatriation.
It also caters for the accommodation, food and water, medical care, occupational safety and heath, social security and the protection of fishers in the case of work-related sickness, injury or death.
On bridging the gap in information flow to the fisher folks on the benefits and the rights they intend to enjoy in the convention C188, a senior Lecturer at the University of Media, Arts and Communications (UniMAC), Dr Daniel Odoom appealed to the Ghanaian media to produce radio programs and television shows, articles/ editorials aim at educating the fishing communities on the convention
He said even though the ratification of the convention makes the lives of the fisher folks better, they are unaware of its provisions.
Dr Odoom therefore charged the media practitioners to change the narrative with their reportage to educate the fisher folks on all the provisions in the C188.
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