Fisheries agency unveils prayer room in Shihmen
By Esme Yeh / Staff reporter
A Muslim prayer room at the Fugui Fishing Port Fishermen’s Rest Center in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) opened on Friday, as parts of the Fisheries Agency’s efforts in improving foreign fishing workers’ welfare.
The unveiling ceremony for the prayer room was held by the New Taipei City Jinshan District Fishermen’s Association on Friday.
Attendees included representatives from the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei, the New Taipei City Government and the National Fishermen’s Association.
People pose for a photograph at the opening of a Muslim prayer room at the Fugui Fishing Port Fishermen’s Rest Center in New Taipei City on Friday.
Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
The Fisheries Agency said there are about 108 foreign fishers working at Fugui Fishing Port (富基漁港), of whom 104 are Indonesians.
The Jinshan District Fishermen’s Association included planning of a Muslim prayer room and a shower room when it conceived the construction plan of the rest center last year, it said.
The prayer room and the shower room were built on the rest center’s first floor, the Fisheries Agency said, adding that it granted NT$790,000 for construction, maintenance and management of the facilities.
Caring for foreign fishery workers in Taiwan is a critical part of the nation’s Action Plan for Fisheries and Human Rights, it said.
A total of 45 restroom facilities and 18 lounges — including prayer rooms — have been set up at fishing ports nationwide for foreign fishery workers, the agency said.
The agency would continue to work with local governments and fishermen’s associations to provide proper spaces for foreign fishers’ religious and leisure activities onshore, it said.
The goal is to uphold fishery sustainability and human rights protection, building a friendly fishery environment that makes every foreign fisher in Taiwan feel respected.
Meanwhile, the Fisheries Agency has launched a basic safety training program for fishing vessel personnel.
The training program is aimed to enhance fishers’ safety awareness in their operations at sea, it said.
The training would focus on disaster prevention, emergency response and sea survival skills, the agency said.
Interested fishers can sign up for the program via the online registration system from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30, it said.
A random computer draw would be done on Dec. 1 to select the trainees, the agency said, adding that it would then notify trainees of relevant arrangements, such as accommodation and course rules.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.