Cape Town – Employees of the Lucky Star factory in St Helena Bay have a bleak future due to complaints about fish odour.
The West Coast District Municipality wants to impose new regulations that could jeopardise their jobs in response to the complaints.
The community of Stompneus Bay recently staged a peaceful march to the municipality to hand over a memorandum of demands to amend the new licensing conditions, which will see about 1 300 jobs being affected at the Lucky Star fish factory.
Ward councillor, Thyrone Williams, of the GOOD party in Saldanha Bay, said the new regulations come after apparent complaints from a small group of people based at a nearby upmarket housing development.
They are objecting to the fish odour emanating from the factory and approached the municipality.
“It’s alleged the changes follow complaints from a small group based at Shelley Point about the smell coming from the factory,” said Williams.
He said the regulations included reducing the catching and processing period, which is impractical and unsustainable.
"The Lucky Star factory has been part of the community for over 50 years,“ he said.
“It has been a source of employment for many people.
“The sudden change in operating and production licence conditions could see this local job source fast becoming a thing of the past.
“The community believes the new requirements being imposed by the municipality are unreasonable and could possibly lead to forced retrenchments.”
An employee, who wished not to be named, said the factory renewed its operation licence every five years and this year it was done with restrictions and conditions.
The staff member said one of the regulations was that the factory must not process offcuts and that it must process fish within 30 hours of being caught.
"This is ridiculous as it takes sometimes more than 16 hours to go and catch the fish. Sometimes boats have to go as far as Mossel Bay to look for fish and spend another 16 hours coming back from the ocean; that's already 30 hours,“ said the worker.
“There is no way that the whole processing of fish can be done within 30 hours.
“The process does not only end at catching, the fish has to be cooked and packaged.”
He said if the limitations imposed by the municipality were put in place, the company would be forced to make adjustments to save costs.
"None of the other similar factories in the region are facing the same restrictions,“ he said.
“This factory has been with us for 105 years. We never had people complain about the smell, the smell has been part of our lives for many years as this is a fishing community.”
Suleiman Salie, managing director of Lucky Star Operations (LSO), said they were a law-abiding corporation and that they were working closely with the municipal manager to address licensing conditions imposed on their operations.
"We are committed to continue operations that do not harm the environment and are equally committed to the communities in which we operate because we are intensely aware of our role as a key, long standing employer in an area with real socio economic pressures,“ Salie said.
“Our operations stand between livelihood and joblessness for the families of the nearly 2 000 people we employ in the region.”
Salie added they shared the concerns raised by the community.
"We approached the premier of the Western Cape, who in turn asked his (MEC) Mireille Wenger and (MEC) Anton Bredell to investigate the matter,“ he said.
Responding to media inquiries, the municipality said that, in accordance with its mandate, it was responsible for setting conditions that allow listed entities to operate legally and within the framework of their Atmospheric Emission Licence.
"We are aware of the concerns related to the conditions, and our executive mayor, Alderman Boffie Strydom, municipal manager David Joubert, and director administration and community services received a memorandum from the concerned group and the mayor will respond within seven days."
The Shelley Point Homeowner’s Association (SPHOA) said they confirmed its recognition of the substantial contribution of the local fish factories to the economy.
“Ensuring its sustainability serves the communal interest of the entire community and the SPHOA does not support any action detrimental thereto,” they said.
“The SPHOA’s participation in public processes aimed at the development of fair and reasonable conditions and practises should not be construed as such.
“On the contrary the SPHOA has declared publicly its availability to assist the parties involved with efforts to secure the interests of all communities present.”