1,065 Fishermen In Mukomuko Cancel Smiling Because They Failed To Get Insurance From The KKP Which Is Currently Focusing On Dealing With COVID-19

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - As many as 1,065 fishermen in Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu Province, this year failed to receive insurance premium assistance from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries due to budget cuts at the ministry and budget diversion for handling COVID-19.

"We have received a letter from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries regarding the notification of the cancellation of the implementation of this year's fisherman insurance premium assistance," said the Head of the Mukomuko Regency Fisheries Service, Eddy Aprianto, in Mukomuko, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, July 27.

He explained that the cancellation of the implementation of this year's fisherman insurance premium assistance was due to the budget allocation at the KKP experiencing cuts in connection with the government's strategic steps in funding the handling of COVID-19 and the impact it had.

One of the scopes of the KKP included in the budget cut scheme is this year's fisherman insurance premium assistance activities at the Directorate General of Capture Fisheries.

He said that his party previously proposed that 1,065 fishermen who already have a marine and fishery business actor card (kusuka) in this area get insurance premium assistance from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

He said the Bengkulu provincial government this year received insurance quotas for as many as 2,300 fishermen spread across 10 districts/cities in the area from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Although the quota for insurance premium assistance for fishermen in the local province is limited, proposals for prospective recipients of fisherman insurance assistance from the district are still included because there is a possibility that there is an excess of quota for fishermen's insurance premium assistance from the central government.

Nasyyardi said, every year the local government of Mukomuko Regency gets a quota of insurance premium assistance for fishermen from the government through the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

In the previous year, he continued, his agency received a quota of insurance premium assistance for as many as 250 people and until now the insurance for hundreds of fishermen is still valid.

"The fisherman's insurance contract is for one year and as many as hundreds of fishermen are likely to start registering and get insurance cards from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries around mid-2020 to mid-year," he said.