(Adds ministry's reaction)

Marsaxlokk fishermen are to hold a protest in the middle of Marsaxlokk Bay between March 24-27 to protest over unrealised government promises.

Ray Bugeja, president of the Fishermen's Cooperative said fishermen were deeply hurt because of a ‘policy of arrogance' being followed by the Ministry of Rural Affairs and Fisheries.

The unrealised promises, he said, included the introduction of a new insurance scheme, pre-accession aid which, six years on, had still not been given, the lack of government assistance for the setting up of a fish producer organisation and a lack of assistance for fishermen training in areas such as safety equipment.

Mr Bugeja said fishermen were still paying high commissions to middlemen, despite the free market.

He also complained that the building of the power station quay was causing a rough swell in Marsaxlokk bay, damaging the boats.

He said that promised dredging at Il-Maghluq had not been done for some 20 years and boats were running aground.

Furthermore, a boat lift installed at Marsaxlokk by the government was being used by everyone, not just fishermen.

Mr Bugeja said the cooperative viewed the spending of €4 million on a new fish market as a waste, since the current facility could be upgraded for just €200,000, with the rest of the funds being put to better use.

He said that fishermen were being late for their catches and compensation promised to swordfish fishermen because of the closed season had still not been paid.

The cooperative has 453 members with 90 boats.

MINISTRY'S REACTION

The ministry said that fishermen had always had priority on the boat lift mentioned by the cooperative. It was that although it was originally only used by fishermen, the European Union had informed the government it could not discriminate with non-fishermen. Everyone knew that there were large ships that could occuply a space for a number of weeks, because of which other boats could not be lifted.

The ministry was conscious of the points raised by fishermen and it was willing to continue debating, so much so, that the director responsible for the facilities agreed to meet the cooperative tomorrow at 9 a.m.

The ministry said that the government had done its utmost to find insurance companies willing to offer cover, which the government was willing to pay . However, no company was, as yet, willing to go into such an arrangement since this such policies would be high risk.

It said that the ministry had contacted the cooperative's president this week to discuss the final preparations for the pre-accession aid payment.

While encouraging fisherment to form part of producer organisations, the government could not set up such organisations itself. They had to be set up by the producers themselves, the ministry said.

It said that in the last budget, the government had allocated a sum of money for the necessary studies on the Marsaxlokk breakwater to be embarked upon. A meeting with fishermen was scheduled for Thursday for the government to present its initial proposals.

On dredging works, the ministry said that a call for tenders had been issued but an agreement between the two cooperatives on whether such an intervention should be carried out was still lacking.

There was also a lack of agreement between the two cooperatives on the new fish market. However, the government was working to relocate the fish market as part of its plans for the regeneration of Grand Harbour. 2 million and not 4 million euros were being invested in this project, it said.

On the compensation to swordfish fishermen, the ministry said that although the government had not been obliged to give this, it had already announced it was doing so and the payments were being processed to be paid in the coming weeks.

The ministry denied it was not willing to meet fishermen saying that the government was and remained open to a solution.

The ministry said it noted certain behaviour whenever cooperative officials faced an election. While these could be temporary tactics, the government still remained open to discuss improvements.

It said it was ironic that the conference was held on the spot of the biggest project the government had done for fishermen.