KUALA TERENGGANU: Show us the money.

Boat operators throughout the state are in the dark about a 10-sen incentive promised to them by the government for every kilogramme of fish landed, which they claim amounts to about RM3 million.

In the 2008 budget, the government promised operators the incentive to help them cope with the rising price of petrol and diesel.

A deep-sea vessel can land an average of RM2,500 worth of fish per month and there are about 200 boat owners in the state.

State Fisheries Consultative Council chairman Mohd Zakaria Nawang said now that the monsoon season had arrived, the incentive would come in handy for operators who wanted to repair their boats.
It can cost up to RM50,000 to repair a boat annually.

"We were promised payment for June, July and August before Hari Raya but it never came.

"When we asked the Malaysian Fisheries Development Board (LKIM) about it, they told us there was something wrong with the database in the computer system.

"We're not happy with the answer and we don't know when we will get our money," he said at the Chendering jetty here yesterday.

Zakaria said it now looked as if the fishing community had been abandoned, especially since the price of diesel remained at RM1.43 per litre.

Hashim Mamat, 53, a boat operator for 30 years, was hoping the incentive would cushion the impact of the high price of diesel.

"Now we need to dig into our savings," he said, adding that it was hard for most operators to venture into another industry to supplement their income.

When contacted, LKIM director Jelani Hashim declined to comment.