Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and OJK Launch Insurance for Small Fish Farming

Jakarta (Greeners) – Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries with Financial Services Authority or OJK, launched Fisheries Insurance for Small Fish Farmers, or known as APPIK.

The insurance will cover costs due to diseases leading to fish deaths and business failures because of natural disasters leading to more than 50 percent of fish farming facilities damages.

Director general of Fish Farming, Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Slamet Soebjakto, said that the fish farming insurance is needed. Soebjakto cited earthquakes in Lombok and Palu damaging fish farming industry had encouraged fish farmers to reach to the ministry for the insurance of their business.

“After [the ministry] checked, they haven’t been included commodities covered by insurance. Hence, this is our task to register fish farmers into the insurance, so, we set up this insurance. Previously, we have Shrimp Farming Business Insurance (AUBU) as a trial and it shows positive results and business people and banking are involved in this insurance,” he said at the launching event in Jakarta, on Tuesday (13/11/2018).

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Furthermore, he said that the insurance is the implementation of the 2016 Law on Protection and Empowerment of Fishermen, Fish Farming and Salt Farmer, which stipulates all efforts to support these professions during hard times.

“As I look at the future trend of this amazing benefit of the insurance, so we are planning to allocate more funding and coverage in 2019 to farmers up to three billion rupiah. With the expanding commodities, farmers involved [in this insurance] is rising to about 10,000 and can cover at least 100,000 farmers,” he said.

Furthermore, he said that the compensation will be paid full though the participants had or have yet to receive compensation from other parties. The insurance is supported by Financial Services Authority (OJK), tasked to connect insurance companies to small fish farmers. The amount of the compensation as follows:

There are 12 insurance companies committed for APPIK, — PT Asuransi Jasa Indonesia (persero) as leader of insurance company, PT Asuransi Asei Indonesia, PT Asuransi Astra Buana, PT Asuransi Bhakti Bhayangkara, PT Asuransi Binagriya Upkara, PT Asuransi Bringin Sejahtera Artamakmur, PT Asuransi Central Asia, PT Asuransi Jasaraharja Putera, PT Asuransi Jasa Tania, Tbk., PT Asuransi Kredit Indonesia (persero), PT Asuransi Mega Pratama, and PT Asuransi Purna Artha Nugraha.

“APPIK is the form of synergy between the ministry and OJK to connect insurance companies which can support the ministry’s programs,” said Muhammad Ihsanuddin, Director of Financial Services Monitoring at OJK.

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Ihsanuddin said that the ministry and OJK had launched the successful AUBU, which encouraged both institutions to launch APPIK to cover, such as milkfish, tilapia, and catfish.

It is aim to increase inclusive economic growth in Indonesia as APPIK is an agreement which benefits all parties.

“All principles on small fish farming is included in the presidential regulation issued in 2016 on Inclusive Financial National Strategy which targeted on 75 percent of inclusive achievement which currently stands on 48 percent. It is still very low so we need to work together [to achieve the targets] and coincidentally, the ministry as the insurance program for small fish farming which is suitable for the strategy,” he said.

Reports by Dewi Purningsih