Kuala lumpur: The Fishermen Database System (PADAN), developed by the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM), is now being used as the master database to streamline the management of aid and subsidies for fishing communities nationwide. LKIM chairman Muhammad Faiz Fadzil said the integration of information through PADAN would enable the relevant authorities to access fishermen's data easily and quickly, thereby improving the delivery of welfare benefits to the targeted groups.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the previous system did not coordinate various forms of assistance for fishermen, such as welfare funds, disaster aid, housing assistance, fuel subsidies, and cost-of-living allowances, through a single database. With the establishment of PADAN, it provides easier access while ensuring welfare assistance for fishermen can be enhanced, as well as enabling the process of verification and screening of recipients' eligibility to be carried out more effectively. These remarks were made by Muhammad Faiz during the Rahmah Mesra MADANI event.
The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry (KPKM), through LKIM, had earlier launched PADAN with the aim of managing large-scale data on the fishing community in a centralised, systematic, and secure manner. Developed under the slogan 'One Database, A Million Benefits Towards Building Dreams', the PADAN system also serves as a single reference source integrating fishermen's profiles, licenses, boats, equipment, fish landings, as well as records of aid and subsidies.
Meanwhile, commenting on the issue of foreign workers' involvement in the fisheries sector, Muhammad Faiz stressed the need for strengthened integrated monitoring and enforcement to curb incidents of intrusion into the country's waters. He noted that the shortage of enforcement assets in deep-sea areas exposed the country's waters to the risk of intrusion by fishing vessels from neighbouring countries. He encouraged local vessel owners to modernise their vessels to occupy the waters, thereby narrowing the space for intrusions.
Muhammad Faiz also highlighted LKIM's efforts in monitoring the employment of foreign workers by vessel crews in the fisheries industry, ensuring that they possess valid permits. In addition, he mentioned that LKIM is expanding educational and skills opportunities for fishermen's children through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes, particularly in boat and engine repair. This initiative aims to produce a competitive young workforce and involves a 15-month programme implemented in collaboration with the Department of Skills Development (JPK) and relevant skills institutions.
The ship repair sector is deemed an important component of the fisheries ecosystem, and involving fishermen's children in this field can help control more segments of the industry's value chain by the fishing community itself. LKIM has allocated RM150,000 to provide opportunities for fishermen's children to gain knowledge and serve as a stepping stone towards success.
In another development, LKIM continues to strengthen fishermen's welfare through assistance related to natural disasters, deaths, and housing to help ease the burden on the community. RM47,400 has been channelled to leaders of seven fishing areas in Perak. A new house worth RM84,000 was handed over under the Special Fishermen Housing Project in the Matang area, and this year's total housing assistance involved constructing two new houses and repairing three houses.
Muhammad Faiz concluded that such an approach ensures the development of fishing communities is not solely focused on catch yields but also encompasses education, skills, employment opportunities, and the well-being of their families.