THE team from the Pusat Perkhidmatan Setempat Nelayan (PPSN) treated some 60 fishermen and residents from Permatang Damar Laut and Kampung Binjai during the Hari Raya celebration recently.
It is an annual tradition for PPSN to contribute food items and other aid to its stakeholders near the Penang South Islands’ site during all major cultural and religious celebrations.
This practice is aimed at spreading the festive cheer and fostering stronger ties with the local community, namely the south Penang Island fishermen.
Those present were treated to lemang, rendang and ketupat.
Penang Entrepreneurial Development, Trade and Industry Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain, who is also the Batu Maung assemblyman stressed the importance of the fishermen’s wellbeing.
“Their wellbeing is important to the state government, and the state is planning several initiatives for the benefit of the community.
One of the initiatives is the building of a temporary jetty with storage facilities under the Penang South Islands’ Social Impact Management Plan (SIMP) for fishermen who are now using the riverbanks of Sungai Bayan Lepas to berth their boats and store their equipment.
All this while, the fishermen have to build their own facilities without proper equipment.
Construction of the temporary jetty with storage facilities is targeted to begin in the second half of the year.
“We hope that this temporary jetty will make things better and more convenient for the fishermen.
“As the elected representative here, I will always ensure the interests of fishermen are protected. We hope that the younger generation will see fishing as a career,” Abdul Halim said at the event.
Also present at the event were Bayan Lepas assemblyman Azrul Mahathir Aziz, SRS Consortium deputy project director Azmi Bin Mohamad, and representatives from the Permatang Damar Laut Village Community Management Council.