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Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo ANTARA/HO-KKP/pri. (ANTARA/HO-KKP)

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry will expend Rp474.9-billion additional budget funding for accelerating national economic recovery and facilitating the maritime and fisheries sector to become among the main players in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I feel more confident that the maritime and fisheries sector would grow and strengthen to win the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic," Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo stated in Jakarta on Monday.

The minister drew attention to the aspect of marine resource management yet to reach an optimum level, with merely 10 percent of the potential resources being utilized. In fact, Indonesia has the second-longest coastline in the world.

Prabowo opined that managing marine resources was not a difficult task since Indonesia had sufficient human resources and technology.

Secretary General of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry Antam Novambar noted that the additional budget is based on a letter from the Finance Minister No. S-180/MK.2/2020 dated August 8, 2020.

The additional budget increased the amount of budget fund allotted to the ministry to Rp5.1 trillion, from Rp4.6 trillion.

"In principle, the additional budget fund is designed to assist stakeholders of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry in coping with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund will be made available to fishermen to procure fish-catching tools and develop fish farming, including fish feed, seeds, and insurance as well as floating nets and market fish, In addition, it will be used to lend assistance in salt farming and encourage labor-intensive activities," he stated.

Novambar spoke of having held a coordination meeting with the Finance Ministry’s directorate general of budgeting for a comprehensive discussion on each activity and mechanism of utilizing the funding. (ANTARA)