Fisheries Ministry proposes to use Rf 1 million of fishermen

Financial Committee has rejected the proposition by Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture to use Rf 1 million of Rf 100 million assigned as subsidies for fishermen, for administrative purposes.

The papers submitted by Fisheries Ministry indicate that finance is required for administrative purposes; as well as to employ six technical personnel to install the Vessel Locating Devices (VLD) on dhonis, for the purpose of monitoring if the dhonis have been out fishing before they are given subsidies.

All members of Financial Committee rejected this proposition.

Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) Parliamentary Group Member Ilyas Labeeb said that subsidies for fishermen assigned from the state budget should be given to fishermen, and not be used for administrative purposes of Fisheries Ministry. The civil servants employed at Fisheries Ministry should be capable of installing the VLDs, and administrative expenses should be covered by the Ministry’s budget:

“The Ministry’s civil servants should be able to do this. If they want to increase the Ministry’s capacity, the money should come from the Ministry’s budget. Subsidy money should not be used for administrative purposes.”

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Parliamentary Group Member Abdullah Maseeh Mohamed said that Island Council Offices will also input much administrative effort into giving out subsidies to fishermen; but they will not need to hire more employees for this purpose.

Ministry of Fisheries has proposed to Financial Committee that, for the 1058 registered dhonis in Maldives, Rf 76.5 million is to be given as fuel subsidy, Rf 12.721 million as ice subsidy, and Rf 7.1 million is to be used to install VLDs.