Fishing firms lack fuel

Fishing firms lack fuel

JAKARTA (JP): Many fishing boats on Aru and Kei islands,
Maluku province, have been grounded due to a decrease in diesel
oil supplied by state oil company Pertamina.

Ronny Sikap Sinuraya, a commissioner of fishing company PT
Daya Guna Samudera (DGS) at Benjina, southeastern Maluku, told
reporters on Monday in Dobo, Aru island that the diesel oil
supply his company received from Pertamina was only half of its
actual need.

He urged the government to address the problem, otherwise more
fishing boats will have to be grounded, a large number of
fishermen will lose their jobs and fish exports will continue to
fall, Antara reported

Ronny said Pertamina should have not cut down its diesel oil
supply to Maluku as fishing companies in the province exported
most of their fish and the government currently very much needed
export revenue.

He said while the government had been determined to attract
more investors to the eastern province, existing companies which
had invested a great deal in the region were let to suffer from
fuel shortages.

Daya Guna Samudera's director Hadi Budoyo said his company
owned 317 fishing boats and employed 2,900 workers.