Fisheries Minister: Unpaid dues to fishermen to be settled early next month

Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shiyam says the government will fully settle the MVR 280 million in unpaid dues to fishermen by March 5^th.

His remarks come after fishermen had staged a strike at GA. Kooddoo on Sunday over the non-payment for fish purchased from them. In a post on X, Minister Shiyam said after the backlog is cleared, the government will make arrangements to disburse payment for fish purchased within a timeframe of one week. 

The Minister, noting the current administration has reduced the purchasing rate of fish to MVR 20, said MVR 26 million due for the fish purchased following this change will be arranged for disbursement within this week.

Videos of fishermen protesting at Kooddoo on Sunday went viral on social media.

The videos show fishermen inside MIFCO’s factory, questioning the operations head. They had obstructed the operations at the factory. As per the fishermen, they are due payment for three months. The fishermen captured in the video expressed discontent over the government’s failure to answer to them.

“There is no one to answer us. MIFCO has not. Fisheries Ministry has not," a fisherman says on the video.

A fisherman who spoke to Sun confirmed that the fishermen had halted the operations at the MIFCO factory, adding they would end the strike once they are paid the dues.

The minister is scheduled to travel to the island late this afternoon.

The government previously remarked that they are settling dues owed to fishermen. In this trajectory, Minister Shiyam said MVR 422 million has been disbursed while efforts were underway to settle the MVR 270 million pending.