The Foundation of Inspiration for Indonesia Development or known as Yayasan Inspirasi Indonesia Membangun (YIIM), supported by Insight Investments Management Company (Insight IM), plays an active role in providing support for community empowerment and environmental preservation. One of these active roles is through the Energy Village Program for fishermen in Dusun Boleng Darat, Tanjung Village, Boleng, Boleng District, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
West Manggarai, a district in NTT which is included in one of the five super priority national tourism strategy areas (KSPN). Namely a national program that is a priority of President Joko Widodo’s working cabinet in the tourism sector, especially in Labuan Bajo, one of the sub-districts in West Manggarai. By prioritizing Labuan Bajo in Komodo District as a strategic development point, practically other sub-districts in West Manggarai experience inequality. Based on data obtained from BPS in “West Manggarai in Figures 2023”, several important issues emerged that highlighted the disparities in population, health access, toddler nutrition, poverty, employment, and the challenges of sustainable development. In fact, this inequality is not merely a local problem, but also a reflection of the greater challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The high percentage of underprivileged people in West Manggarai (17.15%) also shows that economic inequality is still a challenge. The uneven distribution of the results of economic growth is still a challenge. The uneven distribution of the results of local economic growth and access to decent employment are the main factors causing this gap.
In Boleng Darat Village, there are 37 fishermen who are accustomed to catching fish for household needs, including selling to neighbors. Meanwhile, with enough fish to be sold in the city. This process takes a long time and often causes a decrease in the quality of the fish. In addition, fishermen also have difficulty getting ice blocks to cool fish during the trip to Labuan Bajo, because ice blocks are currently only available in conventional form.
YIIM together with Insight IM and collaborating with the Insan Bumi Mandiri Foundation (YIBM) through the Energy Village Program, aims to increase the capacity and support of fishermen so that they can run their businesses well and increase the profits of fishermen who are members of the Boleng Hamlet fishermen group. The beneficiaries of this program are fishermen, their family members, and the general public in Boleng Hamlet.
The Energy Village Program starts from April to December 2024. The activities and assistance provided include the procurement of a set of Solar Power Plants (PLTS) and cold storage with the following specifications: 1 icemaker, 2 600L cold storage, 4 12V 100 Ah batteries, 6 200 Wp solar panels, 1 2kW hybrid inverter, MCB DC solar panels and MCB DC batteries. In addition to providing these supporting devices, fishermen are also given the formation and strengthening of fishermen groups. Financial literacy training and mentoring, processing of fish derivative products, resilience and family health.
In August 2024, YIIM together with Insight IM provided assistance in the form of 5 boats and 20 fishing gear such as fishing rods and 20 layered trawls. The assistance is to support the improvement of fishing groups and increase fishermen’s productivity and income.
The assistance program that has been carried out has had a direct impact on the fishermen’s groups there, for the energy village equipment has been operating and used by fishermen to make ice cubes and also store fish. Until August 26, 2024, there were 260 kg of total fish catches from the fishermen’s group and the purchase of ice cubes based on fishermen’s orders and has been able to earn a turnover of around IDR 900,000 and half of it went into the fishermen’s group’s cash for electricity and so on. In addition, assistance activities to expand market access continue to be carried out by YIIM, Insight IM, together with YIBM to increase the income of fishermen’s groups.
This Energy Village Program is a form of Social and Environmental Responsibility (TJSL) or corporate social responsibility (CSR) from Insight IM to the community, which is part of Insight IM’s commitment and is in line with SDGs numbers 1,2,7,8, and 17, namely poverty alleviation, hunger, clean and affordable energy, decent work and economic growth, and partnerships to achieve goals.
YIIM is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people from various backgrounds, founded by social and humanitarian activists. To realize this goal, YIIM is open and willing to accept all forms of cooperation from all backgrounds so that it can distributed to beneficiaries in need.
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