Jepara Regency awaits technical guidelines for village cooperatives to become offtakers for fishermen's catch

The Government of Jepara Regency, Central Java, is still awaiting technical guidelines from the central government regarding the role of the ‘Red and White’ village cooperative as an offtaker or permanent buyer of fishermen’s catches. “Jepara Regency does have a Red and White Fishermen’s Village in Bumiharjo Village, Keling District. However, it cannot yet be confirmed whether its operation will be handed over to the Red and White village cooperative or if there will be a separate operator,” said Zamroni Lestiaza, Head of the Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises, Manpower, and Transmigration Office of Jepara Regency, on Thursday. According to him, the fishermen’s village is equipped with various facilities supporting fishing activities, ranging from an ice factory and cold storage to a fishing boat dock. He added that a Fishermen’s Fuel Filling Station is also being proposed for completion. Besides functioning as a transaction centre for fishermen’s catches, the area will also be equipped with culinary kiosks to support the economic activities of the coastal community. The Jepara Regency Government also plans to develop a similar fishermen’s village concept in several other coastal areas, including Ujungbatu, Mororejo, and Bondo. Meanwhile, the construction of the Red and White village cooperative building is still ongoing. In addition to constructing the cooperative building, the local government is also preparing human resources who will later serve as administrators and managers of the village cooperative. Moh Ali, Head of the Social Affairs, Community and Village Empowerment Office of Jepara Regency, added that out of 119 construction sites for the cooperative building, 60 have been completed. For the other villages, he said, there are 31 villages that do not yet have land for the construction of the cooperative building. Additionally, there are 10 villages that have land, but the area does not yet meet the construction requirements.