Fisherfolk live below poverty line

Fisherfolk live below poverty line

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah has revealed that a large number of fishermen in Indonesia still live below the poverty line, making their economic empowerment imperative.

Speaking in Pagurawan village, Asahan regency, North Sumatra, earlier this week, he said over 40 million people, including fishermen, were classified as being poor, of whom 12 million were destitute.

Bachtiar was on a visit to the village to deliver government aid in the form of 10 fishing boats worth Rp 230 million to the fishermen of Pagurawan, one of the poorest coastal villages in the regency.

The minister pointed out, however, that their poverty was not only due to a lack of capital and technology, but also resulted from the propensity of fishermen their earnings in good times, earnings that should be partly saved for their children's education. --Antara