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.