City administration told to help poor fishermen

City administration told to help poor fishermen

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council has urged the administration to
do more to lift the economic status of about 7,000 Jakartan
fishing families who live in utter poverty.

According to the ruling Golkar faction of the council, each
fishery family earns only Rp 300,000 (US$133) a month, which
barely makes ends meet.

"They have no access to bank credit because they have no
collateral," Golkar faction spokesman Nasrul Arman said at a
plenary meeting attended by city administration officials on
Thursday.

"For example, they cannot use their houses in Muara Angke as
collateral because they were built on state land," he said in
reference to the fishermen's housing complex built with
government subsidies.

The Golkar councilor said about 4,000 families who still use
traditional fishing equipment are in the worst condition.

The councilor made the comment when the council passed a city
regulation on fisheries.

The problem has been aggravated by the Fisheries Cooperative's
inability to supply its members with business capital. This fact,
Nasrul said, has forced many fishermen to borrow money from loan
sharks who demand very high interest rates.

"We hope that Bank DKI also helps the fishermen. Their
cooperatives should be empowered to be able to help their members
out from poverty," he said as quoted by Antara.

Spokesman for the United Development Party (PPP), Hizbiyah
Rochim, stressed the need for the government to help develop the
fishermen's cooperative and ease the administrative procedures in
obtaining credit.

The Moslem-based party also urged the city government to
incorporate decent housing for fishing families in the plan to
reclaim more than 2,500 hectares of the northern coast next year.

Independent

The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) underlined the
importance of making the fishermen's cooperative more
independent.

The party, an alliance of nationalist and Christian forces,
proposed that all fishermen and their families should take part
in insurance programs sponsored by the government.

"They should be introduced to modern fishing techniques," PDI
city council spokesman Imam Sutikno told the meeting.

The PDI also proposed that the number of employees in the city
administration's fishery agency be increased from the current 272
to 500 people to improve service.

No faction of the council, which consists of representatives
from Golkar, PPP, PDI and the Armed Forces, objected to the bill.
(pan)