Fishermen can register for subsidies next week: Minister

Fisheries Ministry has said that the opportunity for fishermen to express interest to obtain subsidies will be opened next week.

Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shafeeu said that the issue has been submitted to Parliament’s finance committee, to note and resolve the issues surrounding providing subsidies to fishermen.

The registration process will begin before the finance committee determines the system to hand out subsidies.

“The audit reports published at the end of last year revealed serious problems associated with giving subsidies. So a steady, unbiased, transparent policy to provide subsidies has been proposed to the finance committee,” Minister said.

He further said that the money will be transferred to fishermen as soon as the finance committee makes its decision, possibly sometime in June.

The subsidy process will be made as easy as possible for fishermen in all locations. In addition to the ministry, the service will be provided by atoll councils.

Fisheries Ministry has indicated that Rf76.5m should be given as fuel subsidy to 1058 registered fishing vessels. Also, Rf12.721m should be given as ice subsidy, and Rf7.1 should be spent on installation of VLDs on the vessels.