Francisca Christy Rosana, Jakarta – The Indonesian Traditional Fishermen (KNTI) secretary, Ling Rohimin, in a virtual discussion on Wednesday said that the Indonesian government has yet allocated sufficient budget for micro-scale fishermen and their welfare.

"In terms of the regional budgets (APBD) the government has allocated small numbers for fishermen and other maritime aspects compared to other departments," said Ling on September 23.

According to Ling, the allocated budget for the maritime sector has been less than 20 percent from the total regional budget even though this sector contributes a major role in increasing people's welfare from a maritime point of view.

The association's secretary said the programs and assistance implemented by the government aimed at fishermen have not directly affected the economic issue surrounding traditional fishermen and has focused more on major fishing corporations with vessel capacity of over 30 GT.

"Up until this day we have yet witnessed or felt the success of aquaculture fishermen," said Ling, quipping the government's attempt on highly promoting aquafarming.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1389386/traditional-fishermen-criticize-lack-of-govt-assistance