KKP Confesses To DPR About No Rules For Providing Subsidized Fertilizer For The Fisheries Sector

Director General of Fisheries Budi Daya KKP Tb Haeru Rahayu (Photo: Doc. VOI)

JAKARTA - Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives summoned Echelon 1 of the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan), the Directorate General of Aquaculture of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) and high-ranking officials of PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) to discuss the issue of subsidized fertilizers.

In the RDP, the Director General of Fisheries Budi Daya KKP Tb Haeru Rahayu said that until now, there has been no legal umbrella for subsidized fertilizer management for the fisheries sector.

"KKP found obstacles in the management of subsidized fertilizers because there was no legal umbrella that mandated the management of subsidized fertilizers," said the man who is often called Tebe in Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives RDP with Echelon 1 Ministry of Agriculture, Director General of Fisheries Budi Daya KKP and President Director of PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) at the DPR RI Building, Jakarta, Wednesday, June 19.

Tebe emphasized that his party had been fighting for the provision of subsidized fertilizer for fish cultivators since 2022. Initially, Minister of KP Sakti Wahyu Trenggono wrote to the Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani on February 10, 2022 regarding a request for a subsidized fertilizer budget allocation proposal for fish/edang cultivation.

Next, on February 23, 2022, the KKP held a coordination meeting (rakor) with the Directorate of Pupuk Kementan bound by the subsidized fertilizer distribution business process.

Then, in March 2022, the KKP again held a subsidized fertilizer coordination meeting with the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marinves), the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs (Kemenko Perekonomian), the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag).

"The important points are that Law Number 7 of 2016 and Presidential Decree Number 77 of 2005 have not accommodated the fisheries sector regarding the provision and procurement of subsidized fertilizers. This is our obstacle," he said.

Then in April-May 2022, the KKP wrote to the Minister of State Secretariat that there were aspirations of farmer groups in Lamongan Regency, East Java, who asked the government for attention regarding the fulfillment of the allocation of subsidized fertilizers.

Furthermore, in June-July 2022, there will be a technical coordination meeting between the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, KKP and the Ministry of Agriculture. The important points are the data on the proposed subsidized fertilizer.

"Then, at that time, the Ministry of Agriculture was willing to hand over part of the subsidized fertilizer budget to the State Dipa General Treasurer (BUN) as needed by the KKP, but the management should be handled by the KKP itself," said Tebe.

He added, on August 30, 2022, Minister Trenggono again wrote to the Minister of State Secretariat regarding the application for an initiative permit for the draft Presidential Regulation (Perpres) regarding subsidized fertilizers for the fisheries sector.

According to Tebe, in October 2022, the Director General of Fisheries Budi Daya KKP sent a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the request for relaxation of subsidized fertilizers, so that in 2022 the Ministry of Agriculture can still allocate a budget for cultivators.

"Then we received the answer of the Minister of State Secretariat in November 2022, that there was a conception of the draft Presidential Regulation which we proposed that a more comprehensive study of the scope of regulation, governance and the mechanism for providing subsidized fertilizers," he said.

Furthermore, said Tebe, KKP was asked to coordinate with the relevant Coordinating Ministry and ministries/institutions.

"In the same month we also received a letter reply from the Minister of Agriculture who replied that for the subsidized fertilizer relaxation process, the Ministry of Agriculture had sent a letter to the BPK on September 19, 2022, but had not received any direction from the BPK," he said.

Then on January 16, 2023, there was a fertilizer Pokja coordination meeting led by the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy. Tebe revealed, there are two important points in the coordination meeting. The first is the limited relaxation in 2023 for subsidy fertilizer in the fisheries sector that cannot be implemented because BPK has so far not provided an answer to the relaxation of subsidy fertilizers in the marine and fisheries sector.

"Then, the second is the KKP to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to increase the budget allocation for the distribution of non-subsidized fertilizers as government assistance," he added.