MVR 66 million in fishermen's dues paid in July

Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has said that MVR 66 million out of the funds owed to fishermen have been deposited in their accounts this July.

MIFCO stated yesterday that MVR 2,009,843 of fishermen's dues were deposited on last Sunday. They said that this is the payments due to fishermen from June 28 to July 11 this year.

Along with these payments, a total of MVR 6 million has been paid to fishermen within this month, the company said.

On July 1, MVR 64 million had been deposited. These are the dues from May 9 to June 27.

MIFCO said that including this payment, a total of MVR 852,2 million has been paid to fishermen since November 20, 2023.

With the issue of delayed payments for fish purchases rising, MIFCO has now revoked the controlled price that they were earlier buying fish at, and begun to pay global market rates for the fish. MIFCO said that the prices determined in this way will be announced weekly.

Till recently, MIFCO has been buying fish at a rate set by the government, with no consideration for the market price. During the most recent presidential elections, then government had raised the price of fish to MVR 25. However, this government then brought it down to MVR 20 per kilo.

Even with this decrease in price, fishermen could only be paid through hefty government subsidies. Every year, over MVR 400 million is determined as fishermen's subsidies.

This government has pledged to pay fishermen for their catch within 48 hours. However, this can only be implemented after the necessary reforms are brought to MIFCO, and their financial situation improves, the government said.