By Sulaiman Aruna Sesay
Sierra Leone’s Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas was up in arms over a decision by the country’s Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources to allow Sierra Leonean to fail in capitalizing on its water resources.
The speaker made this statement during the ratification of the following Agreement that was tabled Tuesday 28 May 2024 before the House: agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, Ministerial Conference Twelfth (12th) Session held in GENEVA, from 12-15 June 2022.
The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) on 17 June 2022, marks a major step forward for ocean sustainability by prohibiting harmful fisheries subsidies, which are a key factor in the widespread depletion of the world’s fish stocks.
Speaking on the floor of the House, the Speaker clearly said, as a nation, we don’t have the relevant resources to monitor our water. He said, other countries are making money with what they have in their seas. He went forward to ask the minister a very important question “What is keeping Sierra Leone from outsourcing the surveillance of our water?”
In response the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Madam Princess Dugba, expressed thanks and appreciation to MPs and everyone present in the chamber. She said, she acknowledged that the question is everyone’s mind and as a Ministry, they are not sitting down. She admitted that after her appointment, she has gone every length and breathe of the world to solve that problem and she even went to Folkland which is outermost part of the world just to seek funding for the monitoring and surveillance of our seas.
The minister added that as a Ministry, they have contacted other agencies and organizations to have support from them but they have not responded. She reassured the Honourable House that, the process of securing support to help monitoring our water is ongoing. “For you to have what you want, you have to undergo certain things,” she said. She pointed out that, in the process of waiting for support, the Ministry has Sorie Ibrahim Koroma vessel who goes out to the sea to monitor and surveillance our water.
