Indian fishermen visit Aceh

Banda Aceh, NAD (ANTARA News) - Indian fishermen grouped in the Federation of South Indian Fishermen Organization (SEFFC) are visiting Aceh to see the condition of fishermen in the province after tsunami disaster in December 2004.

The Indian fishermen led by Vivekananda, the SEFFC`s secretary general, observed activities at a fish center in Lampulo, Banda Aceh, on Saturday.

Accompanied by the secretary general of the local fishermen`s organization, Adli Abdullah, they saw how fishermen dropped their catch, traders collected them and later retailers sold them at local markets.

Vivekananda said they came to Aceh to see the activities of local fishermen after tsunami.

He said all facilities and means of fishermen in his country had been damaged because of the tsunami. "We want to see the development efforts that have been carried out by non-governmental organizations for Aceh fishermen. We saw they were good and fishermen in Aceh have already been spiritful again," he said.

The fish center in Lampulo was destroyed by the tsunami. It is now one of the fish centers in Banda Aceh that has resumed activity after a foreign NGO helped rebuild it.

Adli Abdullah hoped the relations between Aceh and Indian fishermen would increase following the visit of SEFFC fishermen.

"We hope the SEFFC could help release Aceh fishermen now held in Nikobar," he said.

Dozens of Aceh fishermen are reported to be still held in Nikobar for trespassing into that country`s waters while fishing in open sea.

About the case, Vivekananda said, he was not aware of it. "We do not have information about it. We just knew that some Aceh fishermen had been stranded on the Nicobar island after visiting Aceh. The Nicobar is a group of islands while we are on land so we do not know about it," he said.