The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, Semarang, Ambon
Thousands of fishermen in Cirebon, West Java, who have been unable to go out to sea because of extreme weather will receive cash aid from the government.
Weather warnings from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency have also affected thousands of fishermen in Central Java, as will as disturbing ferry services in parts of the country.
Cirebon Regent Dedi Supardi said his administration had set aside Rp 1.03 billion to assist 12,800 fishermen in the regency.
Each fisherman will receive Rp 20,000 for each day they are unable to go out to sea because of extreme weather warnings from the meteorology agency.
"The money has been taken from the regency's disaster budget. Each fisherman will get Rp 20,000 a day ...," he said Friday.
He said the administration had formally banned fishermen from leaving port on those days the meteorology agency issued extreme weather warnings.
"The agency informs us that weather in the Java Sea will continue to be bad through Monday. The decision (to ban fishermen from leaving port) was made to prevent any accidents," he said.
He said the amount of compensation was based on the regency's official monthly minimum wage of Rp 600,000. He added officials would begin distributing the money through village units starting Friday.
"Since we prevented fishermen from going out to sea for four days (from Friday to Monday), it means they're entitled to Rp 80,000, or Rp 20,000 a day," Dedi said.
News of the government assistance was welcomed by fishermen.
"The amount might not be much but it will help us survive while we can't fish," said Samuji.
Weather warnings also have affected more than 150,000 fishermen in Central Java, with more than 82,000 fishing boats stuck in docks for the past week.
The head of marketing and business development at the Semarang office of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Sartono Tirtodihardjo, said Friday a fishermen's cooperative in Central Java, Mina Baruna, had already distributed 711 tons of rice to assist fishermen in the province.
He said the cooperative had a Rp 2.9 billion budget to help fishermen in 16 regencies and cities during difficult times. He said the budget came from a 0.5 percent fee collect from fish auctions in Central Java.
Sartono said if the cooperative's budget proved insufficient, the provincial administration would step in to provide help for fishermen.
Meanwhile, Ambon Port in Maluku prohibited ferries and small ships from leaving the port Friday due to worsening weather.
On Tuesday, two small vessels sank in the waters of Maluku, killing five people. Two others remain missing but bad weather has hampered search efforts.
"We are not allowing ships to set sail because the weather is really bad," the port's administrator, Abraham Lesnussa, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
He said waves were reaching a height of two meters. "We've warned residents to stay alert if they want to travel by ship. They should pay attention to weather conditions and not insist on traveling in bad weather."
Several ferries traveling between Hunimua Port in Salahutu district, Central Maluku, and Waipirit Port in Kairatu, West Seram regency, did continue services Friday.
This despite the provincial transportation office instructing all ports and ferry companies to halt services until the weather improved.
"Maluku waters are very vast and it would be hard to search for victims if there was a disaster because there is no first-class rescue fleet," said the office's head, Benny Gasperz.
No comments:
Post a Comment