950 Fishermen of Ogan Komering Ilir and 350 Farmers of Sragen Get Free Converter Kits

MINISTER OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

PRESS RELEASE

NUMBER: 656.Pers/04/SJI/2019

Date: 13 November 2019

950 Fishermen of Ogan Komering Ilir and 350 Farmers of Sragen Get Free Converter Kits

The government through Ministry of EMR continues the Oil Fuels to Gas Fuel Conversion Program for fishermen. As many as 950 conversion packages are distributed to the fishermen of Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) Regency, South Sumatra. This is the largest number of converter kits distributed this year.

The handover was conducted symbolically on Tuesday (12/11), at Meeting Hall Bende Siguguk I of Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) Regency office in Kayuagung and was attended by Director of Infrastructure Planning and Development, Alimuddin Baso, Deputy Chair of Commission VII DPR RI, Alex Noerdin, Deputy Regent of OKI, HM Dja'far Shodiq, OKI Regency Regional Secretary, Husni, Head of Fishery and Marine Service Office, Hasanuddin, PT Pertamina representatives, and fishermen who receive the converter kits.

The program is the mandate of Presidential Regulation No. 38 of 2019 on Supply, Distribution, and Pricing of 3-kg Cylinder LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) for Fishing Boats of Targeted Fishermen and for Water Pump of Targeted Farmers. The objective is to support energy diversification because LPG is an alternative energy that is cheap, clean, environmentally friendly, and safe.

"These conversion packages are expected to give easy access to energy and to give options to fishermen about the energy source they will use, and also to save fuel expenses which eventually will improve people's welfare," said Alimuddin on the occasion. Alimudin explains that receivers of the starter kits include fishermen who own a fishing boat with a weight of <= 5 Gross Tonnage (GT); the boat is gasoline-fueled, has a machine power <= 13 Horse Power (HP), uses environmentally friendly fishing gear; the fisherman has never received similar assistance, has fisherman card (Kusuka card), and is registered at the Integrated Database (BDT).

Deputy Chair of Commission VII DPR Alex Noerdin on this occasion expressed his support for the government program because LPG is safe, environmentally friendly and cost-efficient compared to oil fuels. The program also proves that the government cares about fishermen. Alex also hoped that similar aid would be increased to 3,000 packages next year. "Fishermen of OKI get 950 packages, the largest number in Indonesia. But this is only 10% of total fishermen in OKI. In order not to create any fuss, I hope the quantity is increased next year," said Alex.

Similar expectation was also expressed by Deputy Regent of OKI, M. Dja'far Shodiq. According to him, OKI has the longest coastline in South Sumatra. With the majority of its area is made up of bodies of water, most of OKI people make their living by working as fishermen. The distribution of converter kits to fishermen is expected to improve people's economy. "The program is aimed to increase fishermen's income because the use of LPG can reduce operational costs. I hope this program will continue so that more and more OKI fishermen enjoy the aid," said Dja'far.

The starter kit of the oil-fuel to gas-fuel converter for fishing boats of targeted fishermen is made up of several components, namely machine, converter kit, long shaft, propeller, 2 cylinders of 3 kg LPG as well as other supporting accessories (reducer, regulator, mixer, etc.).

On a separate occasion, as many as 350 conversion packages were also handed over to farmers at the Pendopo of the Official Residence of Regent of Sragen, Tuesday (12/11) by Secretary of DG Oil and Gas of Ministry of EMR, Iwan Prasetya Adhi.

In 2019, 1,000 converter kits are distributed to farmers. The receivers are spread in 4 regencies, namely 350 packages for farmers in Sragen Regency, 350 in Klaten, 50 in Malang, and another 250 packages in Bantul.

The farmers receiving the starter kits must meet a number of criteria, for example, the farm area is maximum 0.5 hectares; for transmigrant, the farm area is about 2 hectares; farmer must present documents showing ownership of farm land, must have farmer's identity recommended by head of village/district and validated by regent and or head of the local agriculture civil service as well as have Citizen ID Number (KTP), Family Card (KK), and Farmer Card (Kartu Tani).

Other criteria include ownership of water pump with machine power less than 6.5 HP and the pump is gasoline-fueled; the farmer has never received similar assistance and he belongs to the Integrated Database (BDT) as proven by a letter stating that the candidate belongs to the BDT.

The starter kit consists of a water pump, converter kit, suction and discharge hoses, 1 cylinder of 3 kg LPG as well as other supporting accessories (reducer, regulator, mixer, etc.). (IY)

Head of Bureau of Communication, Public Information Services, and Cooperation

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