Minister Susi: Forget Courtesy When Dealing with Fish Thieves
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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has implemented affirmative policy by casting aside culture of courtesy when it comes to securing Indonesian seas from fish theft.
"Indonesians are known as people who maintain courtesy. However, when we meet fish thieves, well, show no courtesy. We have been robbed by foreign fishermen for years. If we do nothing about it, well, that’s too much, we’ll sink the ships," Minister Susi said in Surabaya on Friday, August 11.
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She explained that since Indonesia granted a permit to foreign flagged ships in 2001, a lot of manipulations have taken place one of which is by illegally using one permit for 10 ships or more. Even in 2004, a lot of foreign ships began operating using Indonesian flag, she added.
When Susi was assigned as a minister, more than 10,000 foreign ships stole fish in Indonesian seas.
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"5,000 ships were from Thailand, while about 3,000 were Chinese ships," she said.
To make matters worse, Minister Susi continued, the theft was difficult to reveal since the ships did not dock and all of the processes of transporting the fish to filling out fuel were done at seas.
ANTARA
