The Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) announced today that it has released a payment of MVR 35 million to fishermen, fulfilling a portion of the government’s pledge to settle outstanding debts.
The government had previously committed to depositing the first MVR 100 million of a total MVR 300 million owed to fishermen by yesterday. On Wednesday, the Fisheries Ministry and MIFCO reached an agreement to distribute MVR 70 million of this sum to the fishermen.
“As agreed, we have released a total of MVR 105 million to the fishermen, including the MVR 35 million we released yesterday,” stated a senior MIFCO official.
The government has pledged to release the remaining funds by the fifth of next month.
According to the MIFCO official, payments are being made based on the purchase price of fish, with the aim of clearing the backlog. “We have decided to continue releasing money to the fishermen week by week,” he said.
The purchase price of fish from MIFCO was recently slashed to MVR 20. The government states that nearly MVR 600 million has been disbursed to fishermen since President Dr Mohamed Muizzu assumed office.
