Fishing life
A helping hand
for the distressed
Association gives fishermen a lifeline
By Jenney Juanis
Pictures by Victor Lo
Fishing in the wide open sea can be risky. Yet mishaps have been few. But when they do happen, fishermen find comfort in their association that lends them a generous helping hand. In its seven-year history, the Kota Kinabalu fishermen association has seen tragedy strike only four of its members: once three years ago and last year when Jamateh Jemunuh, 64, lost his 29-year-old son Jamlan to the sea. Demat Seman, 57, lost his boat and fishing equipment but is happy to be alive.
Deputy chief minister Yahya Hussin is glad the association has been a lifeline in times of grief. “I commend it for helping the poor who are distraught by tragedy,” he said at the association annual general meeting at the Dewan Serbaguna Pasir Putih in Putatan on March 26.
The association has 1,640 members who average a monthly income of about 1,000 ringgit ($324). There are 15 such associations with 12,000 members in Sabah which has about 25,000 fishermen.
The associations work closely with the Malaysian fisheries development board (LKIM) which hands out fuel subsidies to them besides helping them with money to buy boats and fishing equipment that will help improve their catch.
Fishermen get a 75 sen a litre subsidy for diesel fuel which sells for 1.95 ringgit and 70 sen for petrol that costs 1.90 ringgit, according to Jamaludin Othman, the association coordinator. He is also an LKIM director.
The LKIM through the association donated 12,500 ringgit to Jamateh of Kampung Petagas. His son’s body was found at the mouth of the Petagas river after his boat capsized during a storm in open sea the night before on August 5. His younger son Saidi, 21, who was fishing in the wee hours with his brother, miraculously survived the storm by hanging on to a life jacket.
Demat was thrown into the sea when his boat was buffeted by strong winds in the early hours on July 12. He was rescued by a passing fishing boat. He lost his boat and everything in it. The LKIM donated 3,400 ringgit to him.
“I will buy a fibreglass boat and fishing equipment with the money,” he says. – Insight Sabah
Posted on March 31, 2011
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