Member of the Ondo State House of Assembly representing Ilaje Constituency 1, Honourable Abayomi Akinruntan, has promised to initiate legislation towards providing succour to fish farmers affected by extinction of fishes as a result of climate change.
Speaking to journalists at Ugbo, he said fish farmers suffered too much from the effects of climate change and human activities such as oil pollution and deserve to be supported through legislative and humanitarian support.
The legislator gave the promise following a report supported by Pullitzer Center on the challenge of fish extinction occasioned by climate change and oil exploration in the coastal areas of Ondo State.
It would be recalled that Akinruntan a few years ago supported fishermen in Ilaje and Ese-Odo through the provision of fish nets and other equipment to enable them overcome the challenges caused by climate change and oil pollution.
During the Ojumole Oil Well fire incident in 2019, Akinruntan chaired the Ondo State House of Assembly ad hoc committee set up to probe circumstances behind the event, which affected 21 communities in his constituency. The committee demanded $2.5 million from Chevron Nigeria as compensation for damages to fishermen and others as a result of the fire.
Akinruntan said the ecological event damaged the prospects of people’s fishing occupation, the source of livelihood of hundreds of thousands in the coastal areas of Ondo State.
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