Deep-sea boat operators ask govt to postpone Temporary Employment Visit Pass implementation

KUANTAN: Deep-sea fishing boat operators in the East Coast and Johor have appealed to the government to postpone the implementation of Temporary Employment Visit Pass for fishermen who hire foreign crew members for at least a year.

Pahang Deep-Sea Fishermen's Association chairman Md Yusery Md Yusoff said fishermen, especially from the Bumiputera category, find the cost of the pass a burden since they now have to cover various expenses in fishing operations.

He said these include repairing damaged fishing equipment such as boats, nets and sonar systems which could cost hundreds of thousands of ringgit per boat, coupled with payments to agents bringing in foreign workers.

"We need between 20 and 25 crew members for each boat and if the pass continues to be implemented, it means we will have to pay more than RM1,000 for each of these foreign workers.

"This does not include the quarantine cost at the hotel amounting to RM1,400 for seven days for each foreign worker involved and it is more expensive if the workers are brought in by air,” he told a press conference here on Saturday (Feb 5).

Md Yusery claimed that many private deep-sea fishing boat operators, including 45 in Pahang, Terengganu and Johor, would go under because they could not afford to resume operations.

Boat operator Che Ghazaib Che Man, 58, said private boat operators were different from deep-sea fishing boat companies in terms of capital and number of boats owned, making it difficult for them to cover the cost of the pass.

"Unlike the plantation or development sectors, the fisheries sector depends entirely on the catch to earn income. If there is no catch, there is no income,” he said.

Another boat operator, Tengku Adnan Tengku Husin, 59, said the cost of the pass was very burdensome at the moment, as their income was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and at the same time they have to pay bank loans for fishing equipment, houses and cars.

He added that the one-year postponement could give them time to improve their financial situation before using the profits from fishing to pay for the pass' costs.

On Jan 19, the media reported that immediate enforcement action would be taken against foreigners working on local fishing vessels who still failed to apply for the pass after the moratorium period ended on Dec 31, 2021.

The fee for the pass for the fisheries sub-sector is RM505 and an additional RM500 will be charged for each new application for the purpose of changing passes.- Bernama