"I want to make sure that fishermen no longer have trouble getting diesel subsidies because the subsidies have to be right. Yes, (effective and efficient)," he said during a visit to Ocean Fisheries Port (PPS) in Bitung city, North Sulawesi, according to a statement received here on Thursday.
The government has integrated fishermen's data on the Maritime and Fishery Business Actor Card (Kusuka) with the MyPertamina application. This is a collaborative effort on part of the Presidential Staff Office, ministries, agencies, and PT Pertamina (Persero) for addressing issues surrounding the allocation of subsidized fuel.
According to him, the initiative to integrate data stemmed from complaints from fishermen with vessels under 30 GT who faced difficulties accessing subsidized diesel due to administrative issues.
In fact, the government has issued subsidies for diesel fuel (JBT) for fishermen, Moeldoko pointed out. As of August 2022, the realization of this aid has reached only 423,502 kiloliters (kl) out of the quota of 2.3 million kiloliters for this year.
"In fact, 70 percent of fishermen's fishing capital is fuel. Thus, the Presidential Staff encourages the integration of Kusuka data so that it is easier for fishermen to get fuel and this works in the field," he said.
Moeldoko urged fishermen not to abuse the facility. Better data collection is needed so that subsidized solar quotas are delivered to the right recipients, he added.
Meanwhile, Director General of Capture Fisheries at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Muhammad Zaini, said that since the integration of Kusuka data with MyPertamina, there has been an increase in the absorption of subsidized diesel for fishermen.
At the Bitung city fuel station, if the absorption of subsidized diesel was only 500 kiloliters per month earlier, it has now risen to 790 kiloliters per month.
"The increase is 96 percent from a year's absorption. This is proof that the government has never made it difficult for fishermen to obtain fuel," Zaini said.
One of the fishermen with a 30 GT boat, Jimmy, said that it is no longer difficult to buy subsidized diesel fuel. Fishermen who have been listed on Kusuka can go to the Fishermen Fuel Station (SPBN) to buy the fuel.
"Praise God, now it's easier for us to buy diesel. Just by scanning the barcode," he added.
Earlier, the Presidential Staff Office initiated a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in May 2022 on the use of the Kusuka card to ease fishermen’s access to subsidized diesel fuel.
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Translator: Indra Arief P, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
