Kevon Felmine
Senior Reporter
kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
Three weeks after the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott) announced that the jetty at the new San Fernando Fishing Facility was available for use, fishermen remain locked out, unable to earn a living. Clinton Lochan, vice president of the San Fernando Fishing Cooperative Society, said site personnel continue to deny entry, preventing any activity at the facility.
While the site remains a construction zone, Lochan claimed that Udecott had handed over the facility to the Ministry of Agriculture, Land, and Fisheries (MALF) but not to the fishermen themselves.
Under the initial agreement, the fishermen were to resume operations using the jetty and local fishing areas after a six-month hiatus, though access to the boat repair zone was not included. Last month, MALF issued a public advisory stating that from 6 am on January 16, the jetty would be partially open for commercial fishing, with temporary parking available. However, Lochan accused Udecott of rushing parts of the project to avoid further compensation payments, leaving the fishermen in limbo. He argued that MALF should compensate them for the past three weeks, as they have been unable to earn an income.
“Up to now, Fisheries cannot give us an answer about what is going on. We called yesterday, we called last week, and all we hear is that meetings are taking place. We filled out forms for lockers, and up to now, they cannot even assign us a locker number,” Lochan stated.
He also insisted that fishermen should not be charged to use the facility while it remains incomplete.
“We cannot go there right now,” he said.
The ongoing dispute stems from Udecott’s land reclamation initiative at King’s Wharf, part of the broader San Fernando waterfront redevelopment.
As part of the agreement, fishermen were compensated for six months while they removed their boats from the water. When the compensation period ended on January 15, MALF informed them that they would be granted partial access to resume their trade.
However, when many fishermen, boat owners, and helpers arrived at the facility, they were turned away by site officials, who maintained that it was still an active construction site. With funds running low, they continue to demand answers, but Lochan said no clarity has been provided.
In response to Guardian Media’s enquiries last month, Udecott stated that the jetty had been available for use on January 16 and that the entire facility would be handed over to MALF in February 2025. The agency underscored that MALF, as the client, was fully informed about the project’s progress and the site’s readiness for use.
According to Udecott, ongoing work should not interfere with the fishermen’s use of the jetty. Yet, confusion persists. Fisherman Robindranath Baboolal recounted that MALF officials, through the cooperative society, had asked him to bring his trawler to test one of the cranes.
However, after completing the task, he sought permission to anchor his boat at the jetty and was informed that the facility was supposed to be open to them.
“Now police are telling me I cannot access the facility and that I have to move my boat,” Baboolal said.
He added that this was his second encounter with the Predial Larceny Unit, as officers had questioned him a few nights earlier about who had authorised his presence there.
Guardian Media reached out to MALF for comment and is awaiting a response.