JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir said fishermen are protein heroes for the Indonesian people.
However, ironically, as an archipelagic and marine country, the life of Indonesian fishermen is not prosperous. In fact, it is also a class for the poor.
"We are constrained like this, when we were a marine country, fishermen were poor," he said, quoted from his official Instagram @erickthohir, Sunday, September 18.
Therefore, Erick admitted that he had received the task of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to work together with the Teten Masduki Cooperatives and SMEs to find solutions to improve the living standards of fishermen.
Erick said the welfare of fishermen should be an important part of the government program.
"There are programs to improve the lives of our fishermen. One of them is Pertamina who also provides CSR programs for fishermen's families," said Erick.
Erick said that he and Minister Teten presented programs for fishermen.
The program is Solar for the fisherman Cooperative (Solution).
Erick said, the initiative program of the Ministry of SOEs and the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs is a form of government siding with fishermen in the midst of the policy of transferring fuel subsidies.
"One of them is the fishermen's Solution program which today provides access to fuel prices (Solar) that fishermen have obtained, perhaps Rp. 7,000 to Rp. 10,000 per liter, today we make sure the price is Rp. 6,800 per liter," said Erick.
Erick said the Solusi program could improve fishermen's access to Solar so that the Solar subsidy was more targeted and immediately allocated to fishermen.
Erick and Teten also ensured that cooperatives were the spearhead so that the solar subsidy was really right on target.
"With the cooperative, it means that there are names, addresses, and digital systems, so if someone brings jerry cans, it doesn't matter because there is a barcode, the data is visible," he explained.
In addition, said Erick, the Solusi program is not only distributing solar subsidies, but also fixing the people's fisheries business model by involving cooperatives as the first aggregator and guarantor for fishermen.
For Erick, Indonesian fishermen are tough sailors who not only need subsidies, but also the people's fishing business ecosystem that is healthy and in favor of fishermen.
"From Mr. Teten, later the cooperative will be given financing (work capital), we from BRI also encourage financing for fishermen, then fishermen's mothers are also not abandoned, there is also Mekaar PNM who will attend," said Erick.
Meanwhile, Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki believes that the Solution program is the answer to a number of problems that have been faced by fishermen.
Teten said 60 percent of fishermen's production costs so far are for fuel. The Solar subsidy will have a major impact on the welfare of fishermen.
The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs together with the Ministry of SOEs also encourage increased processing for added value of fishermen's production.
"We and Pak Erick are also thinking of becoming financing, processing, and offtakers whether from within the country or abroad so that fishermen have maximum benefits," said Teten.
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