RADHICA DE SILVA
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Otaheite fishermen say they are no longer leaving their boat engines at the Otaheite Fishing Complex because of rampant theft.
Speaking to Guardian Media on Friday, boat owner Nazim Mohammed said they were fed up and could no longer face continued losses.
“We really cannot operate. Thieving here is a constant thing. They come into the boat house and break the locks. They are thieving everything they could find,” a distraught Mohammed said.
He explained that the boat engines were padlocked with chains but this did not stop the thieves.
“They pried open the lock, broke through the door and cut through the chains. They thief the two engines,” Mohammed said.
Apart from the latest break-in, which occurred on Sunday, Mohammed said several others had been reported to the police in recent times.
Evidence of the broken lock lay on the ground near the storage rooms yesterday. Some of the latches were bent and a few doors swung open.
Another fisherman, who gave his name as Boyce, said the boat house and complex had been upgraded in 2016 at a cost of $3 million to facilitate over 100 fishermen. But despite this upgrade, he said they are still facing losses.
“Since piracy increased in the Gulf we cannot go out at night. We start fishing from 5 o’clock in the morning and we get back to the bay by 4 pm. Before, we used to secure our engines here but now we cannot do this anymore,” Boyce said.
Another fisherman, Ramcharan Partap, said the fuel price hike had also made life difficult.
Police said they do regular patrols at the Otaheite Bay. Investigations into the theft are continuing.