Fishermen not happy with US government relief

Even as the US Government paid Rs 5 lakh as compensation on Saturday to the family members of the Rameswaram Fisherman Sekar (27) who was killed in a shootout by US Navy in Dubai on July 16, the fishermen organisations expressed their disappointment over the paltry amount given as compensation.

“We have demanded a compensation equivalent to the one given to the family members of two fishermen who were shot dead by the security crew of an Italian Ship,” N J Bose, General Secretary of Tamil Nadu Coastal Mechanised Boat Fishermen Association, said.

He recalled the Rs 1 crore offered by Italy to the Kerala fishermen.

The Italian crew were in the custody of Kerala Government when the offer of the compensation was made, he recollected.

Arulanantham, State Coordinator of Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen, said the paltry compensation offered by the US Government was atrocious.

He faulted the Union Government for the paltry compensation amount given by the US.

“The Government is not considering the Tamil Nadu fishermen as human beings,” he lamented.

Earlier on Saturday, K Nanthakumar, Ramanathapuram Collector, handed over the cheque of `5 lakh given by the US Government to the family members of the slain fisherman, Sekar of Thoppuvalasai.

The Collector also handed over Rs 50,000 each to the family of fishermen Muthukannan, Panduvanathan and Muthu Muniraj who were injured in the shootout by the US Navy.

The family members of the fishermen and the local people demanded that the compensation by the US Government should be increased.

They also demanded that the fishermen being treated at a Dubai hospital should be brought to Tamil Nadu and treated in the hospitals here.

Responding to their requests, Collector Nanthakumar said the US Government had given the amount as initial compensation.

At the end of the enquiry that was being conducted, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa would impress upon the Union Government in New Delhi to get more compensation from the US Government, Nanthakumar later added.

It may be recalled that Rs 5 lakh for the family members of the slain fisherman and Rs 50,000 each for those injured in the US Navy shootout in Dubai was given from the Chief Minister’s relief fund and was handed over by the Handloom and Textiles Minister Dr Sundarraj on July 21.