Oistins fisherfolk give back to Barbados with these donations of fish for the needy.
Fisherfolk within the Oistins community are extending a helping hand
to needy families within that constituency.
Yesterday the group handed over numerous packages of fish to Member of
Parliament for Christ Church South, Ralph Thorne, as a way of giving
back to the country, which allowed them to continue to ply their trade
during the Covid-19 national shutdown.
Speaking to the media yesterday at the Berinda Cox Fish Market,
captain of fishing vessel ‘Uncle Doc’, Ryan Bourne, one of several
contributors to the venture, expressed his hopes the donation would
help the vulnerable in the same way that a similar donation made by
the Bridgetown fisherfolk a few weeks back had done.
“We in Oistins would love to follow our comrades from town by donating
some fish to the people of Barbados. We recognise that because of the
pandemic, people’s lives have been affected in a powerful way and
government has allowed us to ply our trade while other people have to
close down theirs, so we want to give back to the country of Barbados
by donating some fish. We know that the country has opened back, but
there are still a lot of people who are home and not working and those
who have gone back still have to catch back with what they would have
lost when they were home,” he stated.
Calling the fisherfolk “essential workers”, Linda Harris, Chairperson
of the Oistins Fisherfolk Committee, thanked the major donors to the
effort as well as the market’s patrons for their business throughout
the years.
Commending the group, Thorne said the gift was being given on behalf
of fish vendor Rita Hunte, who tragically lost her life at the market
less than two weeks ago.
“This is a fine gesture and I could not think of a better way to meet
the biblical injunction of loving your neighbour, and the fisherfolk
here are showing that love for their neighbour. They spend a lot of
time fishing; they do it for a living, but today they are doing it for
a loving of their community,” he said, noting that a team from his
constituency office would be making the distributions to the various
families throughout the day.
(JMB)