Fishermen in Addu have ceased their protests after government commenced depositing the owed dues in their accounts.
Fishermen in Addu have ceased their protests after government commenced depositing the owed dues in their accounts.
They have been staging protests over the past days against the delays in settling dues by the government.
MIFCO stated that the payments of total MVR 53 million were being deposited to captains' accounts beginning from last Thursday.
They confirmed that once the deposits had commenced, fishermen protesting at the Addu Fisheries Complex had ended their protest.
With continued difficulties in paying fishermen, MIFCO yesterday decided to buy fish at current global market rates instead of the controlled price that was earlier in effect. The determined price will be announced weekly, they said.
Until now, MIFCO has been purchasing fish at a price set by the government with no regard to the global market rates. During the last presidential elections, the previous government had raised the price of fish to MVR 25 per kilo. The incumbent government later lowered the price to MVR 20 per kilo.
Even with this change in place, payments to fishermen could only be made with government subsidies. Each year, upwards of MVR 400 million are set aside for fishermen's subsidies.
This government had pledged to settle payments to fishermen within 48 hours of sale. However, the government has said this can only be done after bringing the necessary reforms to MIFCO and improving its financial situation.
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