Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) has accused successive governments of neglecting maritime safety, as it called for an urgent search and rescue operation following Sunday’s boating collision that left five people missing.
In a statement yesterday, FFOS corporate secretary Gary Aboud expressed concern and solidarity with the families of the missing persons, saying every available resource must be mobilised to find them.
The organisation said the first 24 hours were critical and questioned whether the full force of the national search and rescue response had been deployed.
FFOS called on the authorities to mobilise all available Coast Guard vessels, aircraft, trained rescue personnel and other maritime resources, while providing regular updates to the public.
The organisation also called for an independent and transparent investigation into reports that a juvenile was operating a high-powered vessel at dangerous speeds before colliding with another vessel, believed to be a pirogue.
It raised questions about the operator’s age, speed, competency, supervision and whether the required licensing and safety measures were in place.
FFOS said the collision highlighted what it described as decades of government negligence in addressing maritime safety.
The organisation claimed it had spent 30 years petitioning successive administrations for modern fisheries management legislation covering vessel registration, captain licensing, operator competency, speed restrictions and enforcement.
It said governments had repeatedly been warned about foreseeable dangers but had failed to implement the necessary reforms.
FFOS is now calling for the long-awaited fisheries management legislation to be published and laid in Parliament, along with an urgent national consultation involving fisherfolk associations, maritime operators, the Coast Guard, technical experts, civil society and parliamentary representatives.
It also wants firm deadlines established for legislative reform, implementation and enforcement.
“This is not a PNM issue. This is not a UNC issue. This is a human life issue,” the organisation said.
FFOS warned that if its appeals continued to go unanswered, peaceful mass mobilisation and lawful civil action could become unavoidable.
The organisation said its immediate priority remained the safe return of the five missing persons, adding that their families deserved answers, urgency and action.
