ELIGIBLE fishermen and the local community in the south of Penang island can benefit from the newly-established cooperative called Koperasi Komuniti Pulau Pinang Selatan Berhad (KKPPSB).
KKPPSB was set up under the Social Impact Management Plan (SIMP) for the Penang South Islands (PSI) project.
Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman said the first annual general meeting (AGM) of the cooperative was approved by the Malaysia Co-operative Societies Commission of Malaysia (SKM) on Dec 14 last year (2021).
The AGM was held at Hotel Seri Malaysia in Bayan Baru today.
“KKPPSB will be managed transparently with 12 members appointed to be in the Board of Directors (BoD). Six of them (representing the fishermen community, local community, implementing agency and the state government) will be appointed during the AGM.
“The remaining six will be named by the Penang government to be appointed as members of the BoD. They are the representatives from the Penang Cooperatives Committee, state Economic Planning Division (BPEN), Penang Infrastructure Corporation (PIC), and the project implementing partner SRS Consortium,” he said in his speech before launching the KKPPSB today.
Ahmad Zakiyuddin said the KKPPSB membership was open to eligible members in three categories – Category One (fishermen who are registered with the Fisheries Department and operating in Teluk Tempoyak, Seri Jerejak, Permatang Tepi Laut, Sungai Batu, Teluk Kumbar, Batu Maung, Gertak Sanggul, Pulau Betong, and Kuala Sungai Burung), Category Two (those who reside or work in the south of Penang island, near to the PSI site), and Category Three (Government and implementing agency officers involved in the project).
“KKPPSB targets 2,500 cooperative members from Category One; 1,500 members from Category Two and 1,000 members from Category Three.
“To ensure that the fishermen are the majority cooperative members, fishermen under Category One would be given additional 500 shares when they register as shareowners in KKPPSB. Only Category One cooperative members are given this privilege.
“The cooperative will be given assets on PSI in line with the state government’s commitment to ensure the local community is not side-lined in the development.
“Apart from annual dividends, members of the cooperative will also get other benefits like job and business opportunities, and death benefits,” said Ahmad Zakiyuddin, who is also the Penang Islamic Affairs, Cooperatives and Community Empowerment Committee chairman.
He said that the membership fee was RM10, and RM100 for the acquisition of rights and minimum shares.
He said that KKPPSB would venture into the marketing of seafood under the ‘Samudra initiative’ which would ensure an equal and sustainable income for fishermen so that they are not taken advantage of in the sale of their catch to middlemen.
“KKPPSB will play a huge role in realising the SIMP benefits such as the building of new fishermen jetties, job and business opportunities, entrepreneurship support and many more.
“There will be many business opportunities for locals to provide goods and services to support the PSI development, recreational fishing and agrotourism activities, which will generate good income for the people,” he said.
Ahmad Zakiyuddin mentioned that the Penang government had allocated RM5 million start-up capital to enable KKPPSB to kick start several business activities. The activities include selling seafood purchased from south Penang island fishermen; providing water transportation for PSI construction workers; and building and managing fishermen jetties that would be provided under the SIMP scheme.
“The business community from south Penang Island that can provide goods and services to support the PSI development are also welcomed to join as Category Two members.
“The PSI project will create many opportunities that can benefit local business owners, and KKPPSB will be a major player in the south Penang Island business landscape for years to come,” he said.
A media statement by PIC stated that in the future, KKPPSB would also run other business activities like manufacturing and deploying fish aggregating devices (FADs) and artificial reefs; managing fish and shrimp hatcheries, providing maintenance services; and supplying food and bus or van transport service for construction workers.
“The cooperative will go into the petrol station, mini market, restaurant, and kiosk café businesses; supply ice to fishermen and other businesses in the area; and sell dried seafood products.
“KKPPSB can also go into the agrotourism business by running passenger or tourist boat services to ferry sport fishing enthusiasts or sightseeing visitors. For instance, KKPPSB will manage the recreational fishing jetty at Sungai Kluang in the future. The existing jetty, which will be involved in the Pan Island Link 1 construction, will be replaced with a modern jetty.”
Those eligible can register to be a cooperative member at the Pusat Perkhidmatan Setempat Nelayan (PPSN) Permatang Damar Laut in Jalan Permatang Damar Laut, Bayan Lepas.
For more details, call 04-6265682.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi and courtesy of SRS Consortium