City allocates Rp 12b for fishermen aid

Mustaqim Adamrah ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 07/16/2008 12:29 PM  |  City

The Jakarta administration has earmarked Rp 12 billion (US$1.31 million) in the draft of the revised 2008 city budget as operational aid for fishermen.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said Tuesday the proposal was in response to the fuel price increases, which had affected fishermen in the city's coastal areas in North Jakarta and in Thousand Islands regency.

"The administration is planning to provide fishermen with subsidies for their operations as part of our focus on them," he said at City Council after a plenary session.

"This subsidy is not at all similar to fuel subsidies because the central government and regional administrations have pledged to decrease fuel subsidies."

In the session, Fauzi said the money would be given out in four months and would first be placed in a bank account before being distributed to those eligible.

"For fishermen to benefit from the aid, they must have a Jakarta identity card," he said.

Only selected fishermen who hold fishing licenses issued by the administration will be entitled to the operational aid.

He said the city husbandry, fishery and maritime agency was drafting a set of eligibility criteria.

Agency head Edy Setiarto previously said the aid would be distributed to small-scale fishermen who used boats weighing between 1 and 10 gross tons.

"We're calculating the number of boats, not fishermen," he said as quoted by beritajakarta.com, the administration's official news website.

"It is estimated there are 2,500 boats with such specifications, with 1,400 boats in North Jakarta and 1,100 in Thousand Islands regency."

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction chairman, Selamat Nurdin, said he encouraged the plan because fishermen face difficulties due to rising fuel prices and unpredictable weather.

"The administration must guarantee that only fishermen with Jakarta IDs receive the aid," said Selamat, a member of the council's Commission E on people's welfare.

The number of fishermen fell from 26,601 in 2003 to 23,920 in 2005, to 21,534 in 2006, to 19,234 last year.

The decrease was due in part to the rising price of fuel as fishermen spend 80 percent of their income on diesel fuel to run their boats, said Selamat.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction chairman, Mohamad Nakoem, said the administration must guarantee that the fund would go directly to fishermen, "not to the owners of the boats the fishermen rent".

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