Apeedy Response Needed to Overcome Impact of Extreme Weather: CMSH

Jakarta, (Antara) - The government should act quickly to overcome the impact of the extreme weather in several regions and accelerate the process of offering insurance services to fishermen to protect the coastal communities, an activist stated.

"The government must act speedily to overcome the difficulties being faced by the fishermen, fish breeders, and salt farmers due to the extreme weather," Executive Director of the Center of Maritime Studies for Humanities (CMSH) Abdul Halim noted in a press statement on Thursday.

Small fishermen could not go fishing in January and February as a result of the bad weather. Moreover, fish and salt farmers are facing the risk of a harvest failure.

According to reports from 20 maritime stations of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency, heavy rains, with sea waves of up to five meters high, will occur in Indonesian waters, such as the Java seas (waves up to two meters high), northern waters of Central Java (three meters), southern waters of East Nusa Tenggara in the Indian Ocean (five meters), Sumba Strait (three meters), Sape Strait (2.5 meters), and the Sawu Sea (four meters).

"These conditions will constraint the fishermen, fish breeders, and salt farmers from fishing or cultivating their ponds, while they have to continue to meet their daily needs," Halim remarked.

He revealed that the number of fishing days for the fishermen had declined by 85 percent, thereby impacting their incomes by 90 percent.

Hence, Halim has called on the central and local governments to utilize the state and regional budgets to overcome the impact of the extreme weather. He also urged the government to immediately offer fishery and salt insurance programs to small fishermen, fish breeders, and salt farmers, who have not yet received the insurance program.

Several regions have already implemented the insurance programs for fishermen. Jember District Head Faida, for instance, has symbolically handed over free insurance cards under the program to some 1,300 fishermen in her district.

"We have distributed free insurance cards to them in our district, and we plan to give additional cards to six thousand recipients this year," Faida informed reporters after handing over the insurance cards at the Puger Wetan Village Hall, East Java, on Tuesday (Feb 7).

The same views were also expressed by Pesisir Selatan District Head Hendrajoni in West Sumatra.

Hendrajoni said he had handed over an insurance claim from PT Jasa Asuransi Indonesia (Jasindo) to the beneficiary of Taudi, a deceased fisherman.

The insurance claim worth Rp160 million was received by Taudi's wife in Painan on Jan 30.

PT Jasindo, Kendari Office, Southeast Sulawesi, also paid insurance claims to two fishermen who had died. Yogi Nursetyo, the manager of the insurance company, noted in Kendari on Sunday that Rp160 million worth of compensation was handed over to each recipient.

Nursetyo has vowed to offer best possible services to the fishermen and to offer compensation at the earliest.(*)