Twenty-five traditional fishermen from Papar and Sipitang have comes up with new odea of starting new company with pool loans. They have set up five companies in an effort to break free from the shackles of poverty with the help of the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM). It is said that they are the first among a group of 65 in Sabah who grabbed the opportunity to improve their earnings and methods of fishing under the LKIM’s special scheme called “Fishermen Transformation Programme” (FTP) which involves a total allocation of RM4.12 million.
These fishermen are the joint owners of each company with each entitled to borrow between RM40,000 and RM70,000, and they pool the loans to share the cost of buying a fishing vessel costing between RM300,000 and RM350,000. It is told that these 25 participants, who are business partners/owners in their respective five companies, are the pioneers of the programme that aims to transform coastal fishery into a productive and competitive economic sector as well reap profitable earnings through sustainable management.
Acting CEO of Majuikan Sdn Bhd, Wan Mohd Adnan Bin Wan Ibrahim said they are expecting the earning of each participant to more than double their normal earnings of about RM500 per month. He told that the participation of the 25 traditional fishermen would only involve coastal fishing in Zone A that is five nautical miles from the seashore and who use traditional fishing nets like the drift net and fish traps.
