Rocky Point fisherman: Give me investments, not classes

With the community of Rocky Point now on the radar since a small aircraft crashed-landed in the mangrove of the White Sands Beach Saturday evening, fisherman Jordan Samuels is calling on Government to do more for the upliftment of the community.

Known for its largely fishing activities, Samuels is asking for more development to be made in that sector – hinting that a tourism industry could be made out of it.

Cognisant of the pandemic, he said efforts can still be made to establish some businesses there for the youths to be involved in viable ventures.

Samuels dismissed the free programmes offering remedial lessons being offered at the community centre by the HEART Trust NSTA (National Training Service Agency).

College dropout

“The teaching thing weh dem a offer to me, them waan see Rocky people downgrade, and nuff people nuh waa come out because a dat. If you as a big person a teach inside a di classroom weh you much more older and you a teach di person and you a diss the person business, the person nah go teck in to dat, cause him feel uncomfortable. The person nah guh go,” he explained to The Gleaner.

At one point Samuels was enrolled at a community college, but he said finances saw him dropping out, as well as the realisation than he can make more money as a fisherman than even a police or a teacher.

The solution, according to Samuels, is not about an educational system, but rather a programme that will see money flowing in the community.

According to him, with them having one of the biggest fishing industries in Jamaica, the players are already well ahead of the game with them being able to read, write and count very good.

He wants the Government to help them get better pricing for their market, which includes lobster, shrimp and conch.

He said the “big players” in the market take advantage by purchasing lobster very cheap, and fishermen have no choice but to sell to them while they are being squeezed.

“At the end of the day, the people who own the lobster market are the ones who rob you, the fisherman, because you see the fisherman dem, dem work so hard fi dem fish and lobster and you have people a buy fish and lobster and dem a tell the fisherman wha price dem a buy it fah. To me that wrong,” he lamented.

Samuels is imploring the Government to find these same investors they are selling to and demand better rates for fishermen.

Despite that, however, Samuels said: “At the end of the day when you look pon the maths, fisherman make more money than a police and teacher. Fi one day fisherman can make $100,000 and dem going back the other day. And all when dem get rob, and di profit cut down, dem can still survive,” he shared.