Friday November 21, 2008
Fishermen woes due to diesel shortage
KUANTAN: A shortage of diesel involving fishermen has become the concern of Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh.
She said they complained they were not allocated enough fuel to cater to their needs.
“Some are forced to line up for diesel at the beginning of every month and this makes them unable to go out to sea.
“The fishermen’s association requested an additional quota of diesel during the festive period but it was rejected in the last minute,” she told reporters after a dialogue with affected fishermen here recently.
Fuziah said she some fishermen had suffered income losses for up to 10 days due to the shortage.
She claimed, despite the shortage, the diesel quota was reduced from 4.2 million litres to 4 million litres per month.
“Previously, the fishermen were allocated 4.5 million litres and even this was not enough,” she said, adding that the supply ran out by the third week of the month.
Fuziah said the fishermen claimed that up to 30 boats would wait for diesel on a particular day and the amount available would not meet demand.
She said there were times when the fishermen were instructed to move to another base to obtain supply and this caused additional problems.
“I will request the Federal Government to immediately replace the quota,” Fuziah said.
She planned to take the matter up at federal-level meetings for the benefit of all fishermen.
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