The Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) said in a statement yesterday that in February there was a serious fire on three fishing boats, and yesterday the owners of the boats and two fisheries associations visited the bureau to thank its officials for their support and help.
According to the statement, the three boat owners along with representatives of the Fishermen’s Mutual Help Association and Macau Association of Ocean Fishing Development and Shipowners visited the bureau to thank its officials for extinguishing the fire and helping the owners during February’s fire emergency, adding that the bureau also lent berths to the owners for their fire-ravaged boats. The bureau’s head, Susana Wong Soi Man, met up with the fisherfolks and thanked them for acknowledging her bureau’s efforts. According to the statement, Wong stressed that safeguarding Macau’s coastline is the bureau’s main responsibility.
According to the statement, the representatives told the bureau that repairs to the boats have been finished, adding that they wished to extend the deadline for their payment to the “Fisheries Development and Support Fund”. The bureau said that it would review the case depending on the situation, hoping that it could help ease the shipowners’ burden.
The statement also quoted the Fishermen’s Mutual Help Association as saying that it has been cooperating with the government in cleaning up the fisherfolks’ boat homes during the current fishing moratorium. The statement said that during this year’s moratorium the government started to patrol the area to avoid fire accidents. The statement also said that once during a patrol, the authorities noticed that a boat was sinking and notified the relevant government entities to follow up on the situation. The statement underlined that the authorities are determined to help fisherfolks avoid all kinds of accidents.
The statement quoted Wong as saying that in the past year neighbouring cities and regions’ COVID-19 situation has been unstable, and as a result fisherfolks suffer from different levels of inconvenience. She added that since the moratorium only has two more weeks left, the bureau will cooperate with the fisheries sector, Macau Customs Service, Health Bureau (SSM) and other government entities in setting up a set of COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control measures to help the local fisherfolks through a period when they are facing difficulties.
Shipowners affected by a fire in February, representatives from Macau’s two fisheries associations and Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) officials hold a meeting at the bureau yesterday. Photo: DSAMA
