Dong Hai fishing port is one of the fishing ports in Ninh Thuan province that attracts people from inside and outside the province to buy seafood - Photo: DUY NGOC
Since October 1, the Ninh Thuan Province Fishing Port Management Board has applied a new decision on the use of public assets at public service units approved by the Ninh Thuan Provincial People's Committee on August 8. Fish traders at Dong Hai fishing port have been "crying out" because they have to pay 2-3 times more rent than before.
Small traders complain that rental fees at fishing ports have 'skyrocketed'
Ms. Nguyen Thi Mo (73 years old, buying and selling fish at Dong Hai fishing port) said she has been buying and selling here for more than 25 years.
She rented 19.5 square meters of space at the fishing port to do business. For the past 2 years, she has paid Dong Hai fishing port 840,000 VND per month.
“But from October 1, the fishing port applied a new rental rate, collecting 5,000 VND/ m2 per day, each day I pay 97,500 VND, which is nearly 3 million VND per month. I am so sad, now every day I have to try to sell well to have enough money to pay the rent” – Ms. Mo expressed.
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Mo is sad when she has to try to sell fish at high prices every day to have enough money to pay the rent - Photo: DUY NGOC
Similarly, Ms. Bui Thi Thu Hong (Nhung Tin fish farm) said: “For more than 20 years, my family has rented a space at the port of more than 55 square meters , paying more than 3 million VND per month. However, from October 1, we have to pay 276,250 VND per day. With this new fee, my family has to pay more than 100 million VND per year for the rental space, which is too high a fee.”
Many fish traders at Dong Hai fishing port said that when discussing the fee collection, they expressed their wish that it should be implemented gradually, "but the sudden increase like now is too high, we people cannot bear it."
Why collect by day?
The money collection took place early in the morning at Dong Hai fishing port - Photo provided by local people.
According to Tuoi Tre Online 's investigation, on September 27, the Ninh Thuan Fishing Port Exploitation Management Board held a meeting of the board of directors to begin implementing the plan according to the new decision of the provincial People's Committee.
On September 28 and 29, Dong Hai fishing port announced on loudspeakers and distributed paper notices to people to inform them about the new fee collection regulations.
On September 30, Dong Hai fishing port continued to announce and at the same time the Management Board of Fishing Ports invited people to a meeting. Although many people did not agree at the meeting, on October 1, Dong Hai port started collecting rent according to the new decision.
Many small traders and people were upset that they did not pay the daily fee and according to the new rate, so their trucks carrying goods were blocked and not allowed to enter or exit the port.
Mr. Pham Chi Khoe – Director of the Management Board of Fishing Ports in Ninh Thuan Province – admitted that there were employees of Dong Hai Fishing Port blocking people’s cargo vehicles from entering and leaving. However, “blocking vehicles was mainly to invite people into the room to propagate and mobilize people to follow the new policy”.
He also explained that the place where the daily rental fee is collected is the wharf area, where the rental fee is unstable. The traders sell on the day there is goods and the fishing port collects the money that day.
“To facilitate the people, we recently held a meeting and posted the prices. If you think the daily rental price is high, you should re-organize the area to suit your fish trading needs,” Mr. Khoe suggested.
In addition, the collection of daily rent is to re-establish the list of regular and irregular fish traders in the wharf area, as well as to re-establish the trading order of the people in this area, ensuring the smooth loading and unloading of goods from ships.
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