Monrovia- Fishermen across Liberia are arriving in Monrovia to form part of President George Manneh Weah’s lifejackets’ grand official launch, slated to take place Friday, January 20, 2023, in the borough of New Kru Town on the D-Tweh football field on Bushrod Island. “President Weah says one fisherman one lifejacket”
According to the Director General of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA), all is now set for what would be a successful lifejacket launch where fishermen will, for the first time in the history of Liberia, receive free lifejackets from a sitting president who has made the fisheries gain huge attention locally and internationally.
Madam Emman Metieh Glassco said President Weah has given the world a clear picture of the potential of the Liberian fisheries sector, thus attracting financial support from the World Bank, the Japanese government, and the Icelandic government, among others.
“This Friday, January 20, 2023, all fishermen across Liberia will begin receiving free lifejackets from President George Manneh Weah as one of his many flagship programs intended to save lives at sea.”
Madam Glassco recalled that in 2021, during the grand launch of the outboard engines in the port city of Buchanan, fishermen across Liberia made an appeal to President Weah for the purchase of lifejackets for their safety at sea.
A press release quotes the Director General of NaFAA as saying the launch will take place Friday, January 20, 2023, on the D-Tweh football field in the borough of New Kru Town, with President George Weah serving as the Chief Launcher.
Madam Glassco mentioned that President Weah, conscious of the concerns of the fishermen with regards to their safety at sea and also cognizant of the alarming death rates, has brought in four forty-foot containers of SOLAS-recommended life jackets to be distributed to each fisherman across Liberia, “one life jacket to one fisherman.”
She described the lifejackets pending distribution as one of the best safety measures the CDC-led government wishes to put in place for the fishermen.
