–-support to access loans, President Ali announces
DURING an engagement with fisherfolk at Rosignol, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) on Wednesday, President Dr. Irfaan Ali announced several initiatives to bring relief to challenges faced by the fishing community.

“Our biggest challenge is fishing, in the sense of when we go to the sea, we are losing a lot…our fishermen we only getting like one or two a year we getting a good catch,” a fisherman said as he lamented the challenges he and his colleagues face on a daily basis.

“Making profits as fishermen is very hard,” the man bemoaned, while highlighting the need for better infrastructure at the community’s fishing wharf.
Meanwhile, some fishermen highlighted that they were unable to access financing through the local commercial banks to support their daily operations, noting: “It’s like our boats have no value to the bank.”

In an immediate response to this, President Ali announced that he will initiate a meeting with the country’s Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh and the banking community to discuss what support can be given through loan programmes.
“In addition to that, I’m going to ask Minister Ashni Singh to bring the banks here next week and what I want is for fisherfolk all across the region [to meet with] Mr. Ashni Singh and the bank sector, so we can get the bank to work with you on small loans,” the President said.

Further, to help the fisherfolk bolster their income, the President suggested that a consortium be formed to integrate at least some 300 fisherfolk into the brackish water shrimp programme.
“We want to integrate you all into the [brackish] shrimp programme, so you can bolster your income and support your income,” he said.

Meanwhile, at a separate engagement at the Blairmont Sugar Estate in Berbice, the President vowed to further support sugar workers.

“I want to hear from you guys; don’t be afraid to speak. I’m out here to listen to you; you don’t have to be afraid of management. I don’t want to sit in an office and hear from management or hear from a board or hear from anybody. I want to come and hear from y’all myself,” the Head of State said.

At that engagement, several challenges were highlighted, with one being that some workers are not able to receive incentives, while others face challenges regarding wages.
In response, the president said: “Now that I have an understanding from you guys, I will go back, look at the system, talk to the union, talk to the other estates and come up with a plan.”