Pending payments for fishermen to be cleared tomorrow: MIFCO

State owned enterprise Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Ltd (MIFCO) said today that it will clear all pending payments owed to fishermen for the fish they sold to the company.

In a statement issued by the company, MIFCO announced that all pending payments for fish weighed and bought by the company will be cleared by tomorrow, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the company and the government.

MIFCO further said that with the payments cleared, the amount issued to fishermen will reach MVR 353 million. An additional MVR 389 million has also been issued to fishermen from the company's revenue, the company said.

Fishermen have led multiple protests due to unpaid payments over the past months.

As a measure to ensure timely payments to fishermen, the company has also decided to start buying fish from local fishermen at global market prices instead of the prices determined by the government.

These prices will be announced by the company on a weekly basis.

Until now, MIFCO has purchased fish at a price determined by the government, without regard to global market prices. During the most recent presidential elections, the then government increased the price to be paid for fish bought from local fishermen to MVR 25. The current administration reduced the price to MVR 20.

Despite the decrease in prices, the government had to provide a significant subsidy to clear the payments. Each year, over MVR 400 million is allocated by the government as subsidies for fishermen.

The current government of the Maldives has pledged to pay fishermen for the fish bought from them within 48 hours. However, the government stated that this will be possible only after implementing reform measures and improving the financial situation of the company.