Silent Tale of Bratasena’s Shrimp Farmers

The tales of sorrow became more evident upon approaching the shrimp farms in Bratasena village. The road was rocky and muddy, with tall grasses all around. The 5,000-hectare shrimp farm looked like a ghost town.

KOMPAS/VINA OKTAVIA

Two men are seen at a deserted boarding house in Pendowo Asri village, Dente Teladas district, Tulang Bawang, Lampung, on Thursday (22/3). Pendowo Asri borders on the shrimp farming center in Bratasena, Dente Teladas, Tulang Bawang. The suspension of shrimp farming has paralyzed the local economy.

Fourteen years ago, M Muhsin, 31, enthusiastically joined PT Central Pertiwi Bahari as a shrimp farmer in Bratasena village, Dente Taladas district, Tulang Bawang, Lampung. However, after the partnership between the company and plasma farmers ended two years ago, Muhsin and thousands of other farmers and employees were forced to leave Bratasena.

“I left Bratasena, as I had no capital to run my own shrimp farm,” Muhsin, who once was a farmer and employee of PT Central Pertiwi Bahari (CPB), said on Thursday (22/3).