DESPITE weeks of negotiations, Jamaica’s fishers still have not signed off on a compensation agreement with oil explorers surveying sections of the island’s south coast.

But Jamaica Fishermen’s Cooperative Union (JCFU) chairman Haveland Honeyghan said Friday that the co-op expects to wrap up discussions within another two weeks.

“I should think that within 14 days it should be completed and signed off on,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Anna Ebanks, one of the liaison officers for explorer Fugro, agreed that two weeks would be a “good estimation” of the time frame, but would not comment on the details of the agreement.

Honeyghan said the delay was caused by the technical language used in the draft document, which now has to be redrafted to in lay terms that can be understood by fishers to guard against misunderstandings among the parties.

“You could use one word and that one word could have different interpretations. You use scientific words in the scientific world but the fishermen need to know what they are seeing,” said Honeyghan.

“Things need to be put in his words so that he can understand. We wanted it spelled out that when you refer to the area as A, it is the same area that the fisherman is calling A.”

Aside from the issue of the language, the JFCU head said fisher folk had no problems with the substantive details of the document, which provides for financial compensation for loss of fishing traps and loss of earnings for each day of lost fishing equipment, to the tune of $5,000 per trap lost, and the attendant loss of a day’s catch, valued between $500 and $700 each day.

There are also provisions for a committee of representatives from the JFCU, the Fisheries Division and Fugro, which is to hear complaints of lost traps and catches.

That committee will also review and approve requests for damage compensation. A tribunal, which is to hear appeals against the committee’s decisions, has also been provided for under the agreement.

Honeyghan, meanwhile, said the oil ship appeared to be operating professionally.

“We are in support of the whole operation and from where we sit everything seems quite good,” he said.

Fishers have been in discussions with the Fisheries Divisions, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica and Fugro, the Dutch company contracted by oil exploration licensee Finder to undertake seismic surveys in four of 20 exploration blocks off the south coast, since January of this year.

Finder is spending US$3 million to determine whether Jamaica has any exploitable oil and gas resources.

Details of the compensation agreement were initially hammered out on February 23 and 24 at workshop sessions in Kingston.

Having arrived at the terms of the agreement, the fishers then had their lawyer peruse the document, who suggested that the language be restated for clarity.

williamsp@jamaicaobserver.com