IO – It has been eight months since Edhy Prabowo was appointed Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fishery in the Onward Indonesia Cabinet, inaugurated on October 23, 2019.
Several policy corrections have been made by Edhy to improve the policies of the former Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Susi Pudjiastuti, who was assessed for 5 years to have brought down the welfare of Indonesian fisheries. The former policy with the slogan “SINK IT!” seems to hypnotize the public, and those who do not understand maritime and fisheries issues were in a euphoria about what the former minister had done, seeming like something great. Susi was named a popular minister according to a survey whose respondents may not necessarily represent stakeholders in the field of marine and fisheries. If only those respondents were those who were involved in the field, it would be certain that many of the policies of the past 5 years have deviated from the target to bring prosperity to people from our marine products.
The issue of marine and fisheries is not only illegal fishing. It is only one of the many problems we face, and although everyone agrees that illegal fishing must be eradicated, it cannot be denied by any group the “SINK IT” policy is not necessarily the best choice, considering the costs to sink the vessels turned out to be reaching hundreds of billions of Rupiah. Not to mention the effects of sinking ships which damaged the environment and polluted seawater.
Minister Edhy Prabowo has changed the “SINK IT!” policy by giving the seized ships to fishermen groups and fishing schools as learning facilities. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries itself has 24 units of Maritime and Fisheries Education Centers spread throughout Indonesia. Nine Middle Fisheries Business Schools, 10 Marine and Fisheries Polytechnics and 5 Fisheries Colleges, with thousands of scholarship students. Recently, he attended the virtual graduation of these students. The policies taken by Minister Edhy Prabowo are far wiser.
Ministerial Regulation No. 56/2016 which has destroyed the Soka crab aquaculture industry and fishing industry which was once the best of fisheries products from Indonesia on the world market, was issued without a clear and reasonable reason by Susi. The export of lobster seeds was also prohibited which resulted in massive smuggling. The former Minister is truly anti-cultivation, which is strange because in other countries cultivation is encouraged and developed. The cultivation of aquaculture can maintain the balance of marine products and not exploit the sea excessively. However, the people of a country with vast waters must be able to use it well for the welfare of the nation and the state, as mandated by the 1945 Constitution.
Minister Edhy Prabowo changed the regulation to Government Regulation 12/2020, regulating the management of capture and cultivation of lobsters, soft-shelled crabs, and small crabs. Lobster seed exports are permitted because conducted in-depth studies show that the quota that can be captured and exported is only 2% of the total results of the study by the Research and Human Resources Agency of Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fishery. The policy was taken because the economic resources for coastal communities cannot be killed due to socio-economic policies that are rarely in favor of the common people. According to the research, the number of lobster seeds per year is 850 billion; if it is not utilized by the people, other marine creatures will feed on baby lobsters. The world’s marine experts said that Indonesia is a country with the highest number of lobster seeds in the world.
The former policy regarding the prohibition of transshipment is also corrected by Minister Edhy Prabowo so that the cultivation of red and white snapper could return smoothly.
Also, the former policy of not allowing foreign-made vessels to operate is corrected by Minister Edhy Prabowo. It is absurd that foreign-made ships cannot operate even though we use foreign-made cars, motorbikes, bicycles, and airplanes every day. Thousands of ships were stalled in the past 5 years, and the corrected policy allows foreign-made ships to operate only if the ships belong to Indonesian companies and if their crews are Indonesian.
Another former policy is the Cantrang ban, which has had enormous socio-economic impacts on thousands of fishers’ families. Minister Edhy Prabowo corrected the policy again by allowing cantrang vessels to operate as long as they do not ruin the ecosystem and should not be modified to damage the environment.
I could write more DEVIANT maritime and fisheries policy regulations for the last 5 years, but I just need to give a few as information for the public who were hypnotized by the “SINK IT” jargon which is mere imaging.
The reason why I write this even though I tried not to comment on her before, is because she has become more unethical towards Minister Edhy Prabowo’s policy, which is the MINISTER OF MARITIME AFFAIRS AND FISHERIES who is now mandated to prosper the people through marine and fisheries policies. The former minister has been seeking attention in the media for the last eight months; of the many former ministers who had served in this republic seems like Susi is the only one who behaved like this. Is this POST POWER SYNDROME?
SUSI OH SUSI please MOVE ON. Let Minister Edhy Prabowo carry out his duties. If you want to evaluate, do it with the right logic; don’t try to herd public opinion with the wrong way of thinking, and use popularity by fooling the people. Be a leader who is willing to develop the country and not for personal imaging purposes only.
Hopefully, this correction policies and innovations from Minister Edhy Prabowo will be a turning point for Indonesia, FROM OUR SEA. Good luck Mr. Edhy!!