Fishermen tell why they stayed longer at sea
Two North fishermen, who wanted to stay longer on their fishing expedition to provide for their families, have returned safely after prompt response.
On February 16, Mohammed Saheed, 56, and his crew Allerson Joseph Fong, 59, set out on their fishing trip.
But four days after they did not return, Mr Fong’s daughter launched a missing person report at Labasa Police Station.
Mr Saheed who has more than 30 years of experience at sea said for the first five days they did not make any catch and then decided to stay longer.
“I have to pay for rent and bills so we needed to go out and fish and earn some money,” Mr Saheed said. “We had been paying attention to the weather and it was fine. The boat was in a good condition as
well.
“We were both taken by surprise when contacted of our whereabouts by the Police as search and rescue efforts were activated,” he said.
Both men said despite the food rations provided by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), they needed to pay rent and also buy building materials to repair
their homes that were damaged during Tropical Cyclones Yasa and Ana.
Mr Fong said they lost a lot of agriculture foods during Cyclone Yasa.
“About 2000 cassava plants, dalo, vudi, bele, eggplants while Cyclone Ana brought the floods right inside our home with the water level up to my chest,” Mr Fong said.
“We went fishing to help us get back on our feet because all our things at home were damaged by the flood.
“I would appreciate help with mattress, carpet and kitchenware because all these were also washed away by the floods.”
Officer in Command for Northern Division George Lagi said a Search and Rescue (SAR) had been activiated with the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) Naval Division on standby.
Mr Lagi added that people’s lives were important and the Police would do their job diligently. He added that it would cost the authorities a lot of money if people abused and played pranks on them.