REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Lawmaker Akmal Pasluddin has urged the central and regional governments to draft regulations for implementing the Law on Protection of Fishermen, Cultured Fish Breeders, and Salt Farmers.

"The government should draft Government Regulations (PP) and bylaws to ensure the on-field implementation of the law in line with the people's aspirations," Akmal noted in a written statement here on Tuesday.

Akmal affirmed that implementing the regulations was important, among other things, to protect fishermen from the negative impact of the Jakarta Bay reclamation project, which is now being halted, following a moratorium and is being reviewed by a government's joint team.

Akmal Pasluddin, a politician of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), expressed hope that the presence of a bylaw of the Jakarta Government and the moratorium on the project would improve maritime governance and the life of the people in Indonesia's coastal areas.

"The moratorium on the Jakarta Bay reclamation project should serve as a momentum to improve the governance of maritime and coastal areas in Indonesia," Akmal said, adding that governance must be carried out for the benefit and prosperity of the people, particularly fishermen who are one of the key suppliers of protein to the nation.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen Association (KNTI) also demanded that the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry's (KKP's) plan to offer insurance to fishermen in several regions should be carried out soon.

"The acceleration of the plan should be considered comprehensively. It should be started by the working team of the KKP," KNTI General Chairman M. Riza Damanik stated on Tuesday (April 12).

Damanik believes it would be better if the insurance program and other forms of assistance served as a momentum to involve other parties, such as the Social Security Management Agency.

The KKP has planned to draw up a technical guideline with regard to the issuance of insurance to protect fishermen at sea.

"We are also making preparations to organize a meeting of the fishermen's insurance team with the management of the insurance firm PT Asuransi Jasa Indoinesia (Jasindo) in the near future," Narmoko Prasmadji, the director general for fish catch of the KKP, noted.

The directorate general of fish catch has currently prepared a technical guideline on fishermen's insurance. It has also prepared a letter of decision along with the fishermen's insurance team.

For handling the fishermen's insurance, the directorate general will involve echelon I officials of the KKP, the Financial Service Authority, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance.

"The supporting document for the fishermen's insurance is expected to be wrapped up this April. Early in July, it should have already been realized with the would-be insurance recipients," Narmoko affirmed.

The fishermen's insurance is one of the priority programs of the KKP in its efforts to boost the prosperity of fishermen and to protect some one million of them in Indonesia.

Based on data at the KKP, only 715 thousand Indonesians held fishermen ID cards. Possessing a fisherman's ID card and being covered under the development of the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Service is one of the prerequisites to becoming a holder of the fishermen's insurance policy.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika