Government Distributes 12 Excavators to Restore Fish Farming in Sumatra

The government has distributed 12 excavator units to the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra to accelerate the rehabilitation of aquaculture facilities and infrastructure damaged by hydrometeorological disasters. Tb Haeru Rahayu, Director General of Aquaculture at the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, stated that the heavy equipment assistance is intended to speed up the recovery of ponds, irrigation canals, and production access points affected by floods, flash floods, and landslides that occurred at the end of 2025. “This excavator assistance is not merely heavy machinery support, but part of an effort to accelerate the revival of business activities for fish farmers in disaster-affected areas,” Haeru said, quoted from a statement in Jakarta on Monday. According to him, post-disaster recovery must be carried out swiftly and precisely so that fish farming communities can immediately resume production. He explained that the excavators will be utilised for clearing disaster debris, rehabilitating irrigation networks, normalising channels, repairing ponds, and reorganising aquaculture areas. “When the ponds and waterways recover, the hope of fish farmers to return to production also recovers. This is what we want to encourage so that the wheels of the regional economy keep moving,” he said. Syafrizal, Head of the Marine and Fisheries Service of Aceh Province, welcomed the assistance. According to him, the hydrometeorological disaster caused damage to community ponds in several districts and cities in Aceh. He added that the excavators will also strengthen regional preparedness should fisheries infrastructure be damaged by future disasters, as they can be immediately deployed for initial handling. Meanwhile, Muhammad Jafar, Head of the Food, Marine, and Fisheries Service of Bireuen Regency, Aceh, said the assistance provides hope for fish farming communities in his area whose ponds and estuaries were damaged by flooding. “Many ponds are damaged and cannot be worked on manually. With this heavy equipment, we hope the normalisation of ponds and channels can be carried out more quickly so that fish farming communities can resume their businesses,” he said. The assistance was symbolically handed over on the sidelines of the ministry’s national coordination meeting in Jakarta on Thursday (2/7).