Minister of Marine Affairs Loses Temper During Inspection of Fishing Village in Lombok

Indonesia’s Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP), Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, expressed his anger whilst inspecting the infrastructure of the Red and White Fishing Village in Ekas Buana Village, East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

During the inspection, the Minister of Marine Affairs highlighted the poor quality of the structures and demanded immediate repairs be carried out.

In his visit on Friday, 27 February, Trenggono directly questioned the construction standards with the project implementers. He even referred to the involvement of state-owned enterprises in the work.

“Are you ADHI Karya, a state-owned enterprise? Why are you building structures like this? Is this building good? Think properly, for heaven’s sake, how can a building be like this,” he said in a raised voice, as quoted from a video posted by Antara on Saturday, 28 February.

Not stopping there, Trenggono also made a phone call to someone to convey a stern warning regarding the project quality. He warned that all work must be corrected immediately before it attracts wider scrutiny.

“I’m telling you, one day the President will come and see and you will be accused of corruption. Don’t joke around, I’m asking for everything to be fixed, corrected entirely, the finishing work is not right,” he stated in the phone conversation.

On the other end of the line, a brief response could be heard confirming the directives. “Yes sir, ready sir.”

Trenggono stressed that the development of fishing community facilities must be carried out to good standards because it concerns the interests of coastal communities. He demanded that all deficiencies be corrected so that the development results truly provide maximum benefit for local fishermen.