Moruga fisherman shot amidst calls for meeting between fishermen and PM

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Moruga fisherman shot amidst calls for meeting between fishermen and PM

A Moruga fisherman is today nursing a gunshot wound to the chest after being shot while at sea.

Reports indicate that around 10:00am on Wednesday, Christopher Granger and two other fishermen were fishing in the waters close to the Icacos coast when they noticed a white pirogue coming towards them from the direction of Venezuela. Anticipating danger, the fishermen cut their lines and tried to make their way back to shore. But the white pirogue caught up to the Trinidadian fishermen and ordered them to surrender. However, they ignored their request and was shot at by the Spanish-speaking fishermen. At this point, Granger was shot in the chest. When the men reached the shore, they called the paramedics and Granger was taken to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries. He is currently warded in a critical condition.

Granger’s incident follows a possible piracy attack against a fisherman a few weeks ago, who used the guise of a live recording on Facebook to prevent a possible robbery. It also follows the deadly murder at sea in July, in which seven fishermen were killed by local pirates in the Gulf of Paria.

There have since been repeated calls for the protection of the fishermen who are constantly attacked at sea. President of the Carli Bay Fishing Association Imtiaz Khan said he is at a loss as to why the plight of the fishermen is not being addressed by the relevant authorities. On Monday a group of fishermen from the Car­li Bay, Or­ange Val­ley and Clax­ton Bay areas went to de­liv­er a let­ter to Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley at his newly-refurbished White Hall office. The let­ter con­tained a re­quest for a meet­ing and 12 rec­om­men­da­tions to be dis­cussed “to­geth­er with the PM.” Khan revealed that the fishermen would like a meeting with the Prime Minister and security forces to discuss how best to protect them.

But reports indicate that the Prime Minister did not meet with the fishermen. He, instead, drove past the gathered men on the compound.

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