Mombasa,
Monday, March 18, 2024
KNA by Nuru Soud
Fish traders have raised concern over the ever-increasing electricity tariffs exacerbating the high cost of fish in the holy month of Ramadhan.
Traders in the fish industry are the hardest hit because they use electricity for the preservation of thw highly perishable products.
Bernard Mwangi, famously known as “Mwangi Samaki”, a seasoned fish trader in Guraya, Mvita Sub-County, says electricity has become costly thus they were forced to increase fish prices to stay afloat.
“The high electricity bills are affecting our businesses, considering we have to use electricity throughout as a way of preserving the commodity. We have no option but to increase the cost fish,” said Mwangi.
He urged the government to come up with a long-term solution so that fish traders are not forced out of business.
At the moment, Mwangi stated, there’s a big shortage in fish supply as a result of climate change thus making the commodity expensive affecting customers purchasing power leading to low sales.
He said the government’s move to restrict fishing in some areas has also led to the scarcity of fish.Mwangi also calls on the government to address the matter of blackouts which were slowly becoming a common occurrence causing businesses to incur losses.
Meanwhile, fishermen have called on the government to construct landing sites and accelerate the construction of the Liwatoni Fish Processing Plant being implemented by the Kenya Fishing Industries Corporation (KFIC).
They also want the government to offer training and modern fishing equipment to Kenyan fishermen who were being outwitted by fisher folks from neighbouring countries.“We appreciate government support in the fishing industry. We want to do commercial fishing but we lack equipment and training,” said Abdulaziz Salim, a fisherman.
Courtesy; KNA