THE first batch of fishermen from south of Penang island is now officially certified as seafarers to handle much larger vessels.
They were awarded the Certificate of Competence (COC) during the graduation ceremony that was held at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) main campus in Gelugor on June 9.
Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman, who presented the certificate to all the nine fishermen, said the group was the first batch to benefit from the seafarer course offered as part of the Penang South Island (PSI) project’s Social Impact Management Plan (SIMP).
“Their success in passing the seafarer’s test at the end of the course was in line with the state government’s intention to create more jobs and business opportunities for fishermen under the SIMP scheme.
“With the COC certificate, they will be able to work on pontoons and ships below 500 gross tonnage, and offer boat transport services for construction workers and tourists to earn additional or alternative income.
“This also shows that the PSI development by the state government would not affect the livelihoods of fishermen and instead, the project would bring progress to the south of Penang Island community, especially the fishing community,” Ahmad Zakiyuddin said in his speech during the graduation ceremony.
Ahmad Zakiyuddin added that after obtaining the COC certificate, the fishermen would have the qualifications to pilot passenger boats.
“From now onwards, they can provide water transportation services with licenced passenger boats to ferry up to 12 passengers.
“This water transportation service will be a necessity during the construction stage of the PSI project. Here, the role of fishermen with seafarer licences (COC) will be important.
“This also opens up opportunities for them to find additional income that will benefit their families as well,” he said.
It is learnt that the seafarer course is known as the ‘Mate Domestic Below 500GT Open’.
The Mate Domestic Below 500GT Open course covers chartwork, rules and regulations, meteorology, general knowledge of ships and engineering and general training.
The course consisted of two stages, namely the written assessment and oral test.
Ahmad Zakiyuddin said the fisherman took the course from Feb 28 to March 6 at Akademi Maritim Penjana Ilmu in Taman Inderawasih, Perai.
“We are now working to accept the next batch.
“So far, hundreds of fishermen from south of Penang island have registered their interests.
“However, we will evaluate each of them based on a few criteria before selecting them to join the course,” he added.
One of the new seafarers, Haris Abdullah, 62, said he had finally achieved his dream of getting a seafarer’s licence.
The senior citizen from Sungai Batu was among the first three veteran fishermen to pass the oral test at the Marine Department in April.
“It’s been 20 years since I first wanted to take this course. But I was worried about failing because many of my friends had failed earlier.
“I’m grateful I managed to pass with the others.
“The day I took that test was also the first time I wore a formal attire with the tie my son bought me,” he said.
Another fisherman, Loo Tang Nee, 42, from Gertak Sanggul, said his goal for the year had been achieved with his success in becoming a seafarer.
“With this seafarer’s licence, I can get extra income in the future,” he said.
Also present during the graduation ceremony was Penang Infrastructure Corporation chief executive officer Datuk Seri Farizan Darus.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad