In Court, Edhy Prabowo Touched On The Policy Of Susi To Prohibit The Export Of Fry Protested By Fishermen

JAKARTA - The former Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP), Edhy Prabowo, explained the reason for opening the faucet for the export license for lobster or fry. Apart from the emergence of protests, Edhy Prabowo mentioned the benefits of frying exports.

This was conveyed by Edhy Prabowo when he was a witness in the trial of the alleged bribery for the export license of lobster seeds or fry with the defendant Suharjito.

Edhy Prabowo initially talked about his past when he served as Chairman of Commission IV of the DPR. He saw the fact that many people lost their jobs because of the ban on fry export issued by the then Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Susi Pudjiastuti.

"When I was the Chairman of Commission IV, as a partner of the KKP, Mrs. Susi, (received) a lot of input from the people on the southern coast of Java, then in Lombok, Bali, and eastern Indonesia, to Sulawesi, and they felt that they had lost their jobs with the issuance of KKP regulations (which prohibiting the export of lobster seeds)", said Edhy Prabowo during a trial at the Corruption Court, Wednesday, March 17.

He alluded to the issuance of Permen KP No. 56/2016 which was not accompanied by maximum socialization to the public. The impact, said Edhy Prabowo, was that many people lost their livelihoods.

"This (lobster seed) has been a place of life for the people of the coastal area, where a lot of it depends on bringing their children to life, sending their children to school", he said.

"If you want to be banned for environmental reasons, there must be a study. We, as people's representatives, if there is a policy that suddenly eliminates people's jobs, there must be a solution", continued Edhy Prabowo.

According to him, since the existence of the Susi Pudjiastuti rule, there have been many reports about rejection from the public. In fact, this refusal sparked demonstrations which led to police arrest.

"As a result, there were a lot of comments about the ban. Because there were reports from the police that were burned by the community, there were many objections from the community. Because the enforcement of lobster cultivation was already massive, so many were arrested at that time", he said.

In fact, Edhy Prabowo considered that the potential for using fry is very large in the economic sector. Because, based on the coordination and research of community experts, they can raise lobsters so that their economic value is getting higher.

"I have also consulted with experts regarding the policy. We have also consulted with the Coordinating Minister in charge of us, who has suggested involving experts regarding the policy of opening lobster seed exports", said Edhy Prabowo.