Principal Secretary for Fisheries Dr. Francis Owino has cautioned Sori Beach Management Unit (BMU) against exploiting fishermen who will seek service of the newly constructed fish processing plant at Sori Bay.
The PS who was speaking during an inspection of the Sh 140 million fish processing plant project which is yet to be officially commissioned and handed over to the Sori BMU said fishermen should not be subjected to unnecessary conditions when seeking to store their fish in the facility.
Owino stated that the project is a government initiative that aim at shielding fishermen from incurring losses after harvest.
“BMU and your team, we don’t want cartels who will impose unnecessary conditions which will hinder our fishermen from benefiting from this project. Let no one impose unnecessary terms on fishermen,” warned the PS.
Instead, the PS gave a directive to the BMU, both national and county directors of fisheries to design a workable arrangement that is agreed upon by all the beneficiaries so that no one gets exploited.
Owino outlined that the project is purely a national government initiative and not a county project and hence the county only has a role in implementation.
The PS stressed that the facility will help in addressing two main issues that have so long affected the fishermen which included the Handling of fish in terms of Hygiene and ice cold storage refrigerators.
Proper hygiene, he said, was the only sure way fish will be processed by the Sori fish plant and sent to the European market under the required world standards.
In addition to proper fish handling, the facility will also help in solving the post-harvest losses due to poor storage, as it will be equipped with modern proper storage facilities such as ice cold refrigerators.
Migori County Commissioner Mr. Meru Mwangi who accompanied the PS, stressed the importance of value addition to the fish before it reaches the market to realise maximum profit.
The CC also said that the unemployed youth in the region and countrywide, will now get job opportunities from the facility directly and indirectly.
Upon its full operation, the facility will also help in purifying water that can be used by the community for drinking. This will solve the drinking water crisis that rocks the surrounding community which borders the large water body of Lake Victoria.
On matters of politics, the two leaders wooed the locals to vote wisely during the August polls to ensure that the incoming government is in line with the outgoing system so as to continue benefiting from similar projects.
Mwangi also called on the electoral body IEBC to engage various candidates during the election to ensure peace prevails even after the polls.
They also encouraged local chiefs and IEBC to conduct voter education in order to reduce cases of spoiled votes in the coming elections.
