Shrimp farmers seek debt relief

TULANGBAWANG, Lampung: Shrimp farmers belonging to the Association of Dipasena Prawn Breeders (P3UW) are appealing to the government to write off their debt owed to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

They also urged the government to separate their assets from those of their foster company PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja (DCD) owned by tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.

"We call on the government to intervene since DCD has not demonstrated good will during the past three years," association chairman Parjono said during a protest in front of Tulangbawang regency office in Menggala, Lampung over the weekend.

P3UW lists a total of 7,524 prawn breeders on its rolls. Hundreds of members staged a protest in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Jakarta last week.

The breeders allegedly received soft loans in U.S. dollars worth Rp 135 million from CDC 12 years ago. Following the sharp fall of rupiah currency in 1997, the debt had ballooned to Rp 1.1 trillion.

The debt was transferred to IBRA after Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII), which provided the loans for CDC, failed to repay Bank Indonesia's liquidity assistance received in the face of the financial crisis in 1997. --JP