KOTA KINABALU: Some 30 fishing boat owners operating in the city are against the proposal by 16 purse seine boat operators in the east coast to move to Kota Kinabalu.
Jacky Ho, one of the owners, said they had been informed that the owners of the 16 purse seine boats had another meeting with the Fisheries Department recently.
“It was at the end of last year that Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin himself disagreed that these boat owners come to Kota Kinabalu, and we are hoping that the department will remember that.
“There are so many negative affects if they come to Kota Kinabalu, especially on the shortage of diesel and ice supply which have been our ongoing problem for almost a decade. Long queues for subsidised diesel at Safma (Sabah Fish Marketing) jetty and at Sepanggar are another hassle for us.
“We are also facing congestion at the fish mills. If they come here, I can see more problems in the future. There are only two fish mills in Kota Kinabalu, and it is already not enough for us. What happens if they come here?” asked Ho.
He also said safety was not the main issue for them to come to Kota Kinabalu because they had been going out to sea and the government had already guaranteed that the east coast waters were safe.
Apart from that, Ho also hoped that the private jetty in the city centre would not accept them, otherwise the existing boat owners would face losses.
“There are around 120 boats in Kota Kinabalu, belonging to about 46 owners and about 30 of them are purse seine operators.
“We already have enough purse seine operators, and we do not want these operators to come here and play with the price,” he added.