Jakarta, May 27 (Antara) - The government needs to recognize the
important role of fisherwomen in the family and take them into account
when it is working on the budget for the fishery sector.
Data released by the People's Coalition for Fishery Justice (Kiara)
indicated that about 48 percent of fishermen's family income was
contributed by fisherwomen. Most fisherwomen spent some 17 hours a day
to contribute 48 percent of the family income.
"Therefore, the government should recognize fisherwomen's important
roles and take them into account when it is drafting a funding budget in
the fishery sector," Kiara Secretary General Abdul Halim said on
Monday.
He said Kiara and the Indonesian Fisherwomen's Solidarity (PPNI) were
fighting for the recognition of fisherwomen's roles by the government.
He said the government's allocation in the marine affairs and fisheries
sectors continued to increase over the past five years from Rp2 trillion
to Rp7 trillion.
Abdul Halim pointed out that the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), which is a group of 189 countries, had recognized the existence
of fisherwomen and their important roles in the traditional and small
scale fishery activities.
The important role of fisherwomen was proven through an in-depth study
on the number, distribution and roles of fisherwomen in the world after a
meeting of FAO's Fishery Commission on the fishery trade in Norway last
February.
Kiara and PPNI thereby called on the government to also revise the law
on fishery to include recognition and protection of fisherwomen. They
also encouraged the participation of the state in the processing of
fishery resources, which bridges the up-and down-stream fishery villages
so that they will be competitive in the face of the ASEAN Economic
Community.
A number of non-governmental organizations urged the government to
revise the fishery Law No. 45/2009 on the amendment of Law No. 31/2004
by stressing the reorganization of fisherwomen's important roles.
PPNI Secretary General Masnuah also pointed out that about 48 percent
of fishermen families' income was contributed by fisherwomen. Most of
the fisherwomen worked more than 17 hours per day.
Unfortunately,
the government has not yet fully supported fisherwomen's activities,
including their creative economic activities that have spread to 15
districts or municipalities.
Therefore, Kiara and PPNI
recently held a meeting to formulate a call on the government to
recognize the roles of fisherwomen both in fishery and family
activities.
The meeting also aimed to facilitate an exchange of experience and
horizons on the development of the creative economy, such as mangrove
preservation, fish production, special coastal areas' weaving and other
activities, according to Masnuah.
PPNI and Kiara also asked the government to give priority to
fisherwomen in the government's budget in an effort to protect
fisherwomen and improve their welfare.
Regarding fishermen's
protection, Kiara secretary general Halim said his organization hoped
that the government will increase its fund allocation for the protection
of fishermen who go fishing in the sea.
"The number of missing fishermen and those dying in the sea continue to
increase. The government should allocate protection funds in the state
budget," Abdul Halim said on Monday.
He said based on Kiara data, at least 61 traditional fishermen were
missing and had died in the sea since January 2014.
Compared
with those in the same period in 2010, the number increased this year,
so the Kiara urged the government to provide protection for traditional
fishermen. "The state should be able to assure protection for the life
of fishermen," he asserted. After all, in the past five years, the
government has raised its allocation for the marines and fisheries
sectors from Rp2 trillion to Rp7 trillion.
Meanwhile, the government said last march that its program to improve
the welfare of fishermen was successful. It claimed its Fishermen
Welfare Improvement Program (PKN) launched in 2011 had succeeded in
improving the welfare of Indonesia's fishermen.
"With government assistance, the incomes of fishermen have multiplied.
Currently, they are able to go for a minor hajj pilgrimage to the Holy
Land (Mecca), because they earn good incomes," Marines Affairs and
Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo claimed.
The PKN program is supported by 12-related ministries and government
institutions. Through the program, the government has provided fishing
boats to fishermen.
"The government provided fishing ships with a tonnage of more than 30
GT. With these relatively larger boats, they can fish at a distance of
100 miles into the sea. Previously, they could only sail 5 to 20 miles.
In the past, they could only fish for about one to three days because
their ships were small. That is why their incomes have multiplied by
four to five times," the minister said.
Meanwhile, chief of the Indonesian Marine Council Secretariat Dedy
Sutisna, who is also a former director general for catch fish affairs,
said the PKN program did not only include assistance of fishing boats,
but also help in the form of funds and other facilities.
The government provided other facilities so that if a fisherman cannot
go fishing he can still earn an income. "We hope fishermen will always
earn incomes. There should not be a time when they cannot earn any
income," Dedy Sutisna noted.
He said poverty in the coastal areas affected 7.87 million fishermen,
or about 25.14 percent of the nation's poor living under the poverty
line. That is why the national welfare improvement program is important
for fishermen.
Under this program, Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo had handed over 35
fishing vessels worth Rp45 billion to fishermen groups in the Southeast
Sulawesi province. The fishing ships consisted of 25 units, with a gross
tonnage of 30 tons, worth Rp37.5 billion and of 10 units, with a gross
tonnage that range between 10 and 30 tons, valued at Rp7.5 billion.
The funds for the procurement of the fishing vessels were taken from
the 2013 and the 2014 state budgets. The Southeast Sulawesi province is
one of the country's biggest catch fish producers; therefore it needed
the catching facility support.
"The central government through the Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP)
agency set aside funds from two consecutive year budgets for this
province," Minister Sharif said.
The minister had also delivered 27 "Inka Minka" fishing boats worth
Rp36 billion to fishermen in Aceh province. The fishing ships consisted
of 12 units with more than 30 gross tonnage (GT) worth Rp18 billion and
nine others of the same tonnage worth Rp13.5 billion. The other six
ships have varying tonnage ranging between 10 and 30 GT.
However, the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen Association (KNTI) said
the fishing boat assistance program had not yet shown positive effects.
"Though the government had disbursed hundreds of billions of rupiah of
state money, yet it had not yet created a positive impact on the
majority of Indonesian fishermen," Riza Damanik, the chief patron of
KNTI, said.
The KNTI found many problems in the field. The
problems included problematic tenders; licensing; ship assistance going
to the wrong persons; incorrect ship specifications including economic,
social and ecological; and high operational costs.***2***
(TA014/INE)
EDITED BY INE
(T.SYS/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) |
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