TANJONG KARANG, April 10 — Fishermen who have been facing uncertain income and are dependent on weather conditions for their livelihood described the government’s initiative to offer the Special Aidilfitri Financial Assistance of RM200 as a windfall to them.
Aid recipient, Jamsari Ramsah, 44, said the assistance shows the concern of the government, especially the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry (KPKM), for fishermen who do not have regular income.
“This aid would be helpful to me in preparation for Hari Raya Aidilfitri for my family.
“Even though the amount is not big, it is enough for us. I hope the government would continue with this initiative,” said the fisherman who was met by Bernama at Agrobank here today whe receiving the aid.
The view was also echoed by his friend, Razak Yusoff, 66, who described the festive celebration this year be would slightly bigger than the year before.
“Our income is not regular, sometimes we have nothing and like yesterday, we managed to earn only RM95, there are times we came back empty-handed. This is indeed timely assistance,” said Razak, who has been a fisherman for 40 years.
On March 29, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when announcing the good news said the aid would benefit 850,000 rubber holders, paddy farmers and fishermen costing RM170 million.
The special aid of RM200 a one-off payment is expected to benefit 38,500 fishermen and 240,000 paddy farmers nationwide.
For Muhammad Nor Hafiz Azizis, 32, and Halim Dan, 55 who are both inland fishermen, hoped the special aid would be raised from time to time in line with the cost of living trend which is on the rise.
Muhammad Nor Hafiz added that inland fishermen did not get the privilege of marine fishermen who enjoyed fuel subsidies.
“The special aid is enough for us. We hope the government would continue to look after our welfare,” said Muhammad Nor Hafiz who focuses on river areas as an inland fisherman.
The payment to fishermen was channelled via the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM) and the inland fishermen through the Department of Fisheries (DoF). — Bernama
