Government satisfied with work so far to assist boat owners affected in recent fire   |16 December 2022

Minister Ferrari

     Announces one-off ex-gratia payment for local fishermen affected

A dozen Seychellois fishermen who were employed on the fishing boats that were completely destroyed in a fire two weeks ago, will receive a one-off ex gratia payment with government, while it continues to explore all avenues to assist the boat owners as soon as possible.

Speaking to Seychelles NATION yesterday, the minister responsible for fisheries, Designated Minister Jean-François Ferrari, said this will cover their expenses during the festive season, until such time that the boat owners resume their activity.

Minister Ferrari said to date, the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) has had two meetings with the five owners of the seven fishing boats that caught fire on December 5.

According to him, the first meeting last week was to assess the damage to the industry. It should be noted that none of the boats were insured at the time of the incident; five were registered for artisanal fishing and two were semi-industrial fishing boats. Two were not operational at the time of the fire.

Minister Ferrari said a positive note was that none of the vessels had outstanding loans with the Development Bank of Seychelles (DBS), as they had either invested their own money, or had special commercial arrangements with their sellers.

Last week’s meeting was also to see how soon they could resume their operations.

“We did an audit of potentially suitable boats available in the country; those seized by the authority, the pending court cases and those already released to the SFA;  as well as private owners, who are in default with banks and are willing to sell. We can confirm that there are presently two boats potentially suitable for semi-industrial fishing and the owners can look into that and we can assist them by facilitating the purchase,” said Mr Ferrari.

The second meeting took place yesterday morning and according to him, things are now moving with one of the five owners, resuming his fishing activities yesterday, under a special arrangement.

“We have allowed him to use his existing license, which was in order, to rent a non-active boat, to resume his activities. A second person has made the same request and we are presently working on it,” he explained.

According to Minister Ferrari a third person had already identified a new boat locally but did not have the fund to purchase it. His ministry, through SFA, was helping him to secure the deal so that he gets a good promise of sale, and “the ministry responsible for Finance and the DBS have agreed to work on a financing mechanism to assist him”.

It is estimated that on average one of those artisanal fishing boats destroyed in the fire cost between R700,000 and R1 million.

At yesterday’s meeting, some owners also proposed that they be allowed to purchase second-hand boats from Sri Lanka, where the costs have reduced dramatically due to the economic downturn.

“At present the ministry and SFA are not in favour of this proposal because we still believe they can find a boat that is idle here in the country and invest in it. So we want them to carry on their search locally and will not be granting them permission to purchase from overseas at the moment, although we have not ruled this out entirely,” explained Mr Ferrari.

With regard to the fishermen who will be receiving the one-off ex-gratia payment, the SFA has compiled the list based on the information provided by the owners and yesterday was the last day for them to register.

“There are lots of job opportunities in the sector for them but while they search for it, we will assist them, as a one-off to get them back on their feet. We are still negotiating on the amount so I cannot reveal it at this time,” he explained.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy and the SFA said they are satisfied with the pace the negotiations are going and the cooperation of the boat owners, while they explore all avenues to ensure they resume their operations by January.

Meanwhile, investigation into the fire is still ongoing by the police and the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency.

Patsy Canaya