Ministry programs not helpful, say fishermen

Ministry programs not helpful, say fishermen

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Fishermen living in the Kepulauan Seribu (Thousands Islands)
regency in northern Jakarta complained that the floating net
cages provided by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
were unhelpful because they had not received any information on
the usage of the cages.

Their complaint was conveyed to members of House of
Representatives Commission III for agriculture and food affairs,
and officials of the maritime affairs ministry who visited the
island on Thursday to distribute the cages.

The distribution of the cages was part of a program that also
saw the ministry kick off a pilot project for coral reef
conservation. The project involves the establishment of
artificial coral reefs.

According to reports by the Pulau Seribu regency, 85 percent
of the coral reefs scattered among the 110 islands in the regency
have been destroyed over the last few years.

Despite the presentation of the net cages, many of the local
fishermen were unhappy with the program.

"Based on our experience since 1996, the ministry officials
only visited us to hand over the cages. Worst was they left us
without adequate knowledge and assistance on how to use and
manage the cages. So far, fishermen have never benefited from the
project," grumbled Syahrulloh, a fisherman who lives on Panggang
island.

His neighbor, Abdullah, expressed similar sentiments.

"We don't need such ceremonies. It's only an annual ritual.
What we need is to enhance our knowledge of using the cage
technology with some assistance from the ministry," he said.

Despite the complaints, the ministry's secretary-general,
Andim H. Taryoto, insisted that the program was not poorly
targeted. He claimed the latest cage program would be different
from previous ones, in that fishermen would be guided by non-
governmental organizations in the use of the cages.

"It is a consequence of regional autonomy, in which the
ministry technically does not provide staff to teach the
fishermen. It's the responsibility of the City Fishery Agency,
which had appointed PT Arsedia as an NGO for the purpose," he
said.

The director of ocean conservation and national marine parks,
Achmad Abdullah, claimed that the program had received a green
light from fishermen despite their objections.

The involvement of an NGO in the program was met with
skepticism by the fishermen, who expressed doubt about its
ability to assist them. So far, they have yet to receive any
assistance from the NGO.

"We still don't understand why the ministry staff did not come
here to inform us (about the use of the cages) instead of
appointing an NGO whose capability is questionable. We haven't
met them (the NGO) up to today," said Syahrulloh.

The attempt to establish colonies of artificial coral reefs
was also criticized by the director of the World Wildlife
Foundation Indonesia, Ketut Sarjana Putra, who said the program
was merely ceremonial.

"The choice of the area of Pramuka island is poor because the
spot is not ideal for the nurturing of coral reef. The sea bottom
contains muddy sediment which could prevent coral reef from
growing," he said.

The ministry spent at least Rp 190 million (US$19,000) for
Thursday's program alone. Some Rp 100 million of the budget was
used for the floating net cages while another Rp 90 million went
to the artificial coral reef.