Worried That They Will Not Be Absorbed, Fishermen And Cultivators Expect BUMN To Absorb Fishery Products

Illustration of fishermen in North Jakarta (Syamsul Maarif / VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Edhy Prabowo, delivered a number of economic stimulus proposals to maintain the fisheries sector in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. The proposal was conveyed by Minister Edhy in a coordination meeting with a number of Ministers of the Forward Indonesia Cabinet led by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto via a video conference in Jakarta, Friday 3 April.

One of the things that Minister Edhy proposed was that the government and BUMNs could buy fishery products from the community. According to him, until now fishermen and cultivators have continued to produce, but there are concerns that the results will not be absorbed. They are also afraid because there is no guarantee of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"So we hope there will be a financial stimulus to buy fishery products from the community. Is it the government buying it or BUMN," said Edhy in the video conference.

His party has prepared a cold storage (cold storage) that can be used to store fishery products if at any time the government decides to buy fish from fishermen and cultivators. Minister Edhy also hopes to optimize the implementation of the Fish Warehouse Receipt System (SRG) as a buffer for fishery product prices at the fishermen and cultivator levels.

"We have more than 100 thousand (tonnes of capacity) cold storage which are still idle. If there is financial assistance from the government to buy community fishery products, it can be placed in cold storage," he explained.

Another proposal, Minister Edhy asked the government through the Ministry of Social Affairs to include fishermen, fish cultivators, processors and marketers of fishery products as well as salt farmers, as MSMEs who are classified as poor communities, to be included in the recipients of assistance for the Family Hope Program (PKH) and Non-Cash Food Assistance. (BPNT).

In addition, Minister Edhy explained that currently KKP is exploring cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) and local governments to include fishery products in aid packages to the community. He is sure that if the scheme works, the absorption of fishery products will be maximized.

"The Ministry of Social Affairs has assistance programs such as PKH and BPNT. If fishery products can be included in the assistance package, absorption will certainly occur. Likewise with the regional government," he said.

Meanwhile, for fish processing industry players, Minister Edhy proposed to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy to have fiscal incentives related to Income Tax Article 25 of 30 percent for up to six months. Then export incentives and loan incentives with soft interest or no interest for fish processing units.

Minister Edhy also asked airlines to postpone the increase in the price of fishery product cargoes abroad until conditions return to normal. If it is enforced at a high price, he is worried that the business actor will go bankrupt. Minister Edhy also hopes that the government will encourage additional airlines serving fishery cargo, because currently only one is operating.

Responding to Minister Edhy's suggestion, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto asked Minister Edhy to carry out exercises related to cold storage. Then regarding the increase in the cost of cargo for fishery products abroad (exports), it will be discussed further with the airline.

"As stated many times by the President, production distribution should not be disturbed. Mainly with regard to exports," said Coordinating Minister Arilangga.