MIFCO response ends fishermen’s protest

The protest held at sea by a number of fishermen from Lhaviyani atoll calling to improve the services to fishermen has come to an end after Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) responded to the protest.

The protest which began this morning called for the dismissal of the heads of the Lhaviyani Felivaru fish factory accusing them of corruption.

And the protestors said that fishermen does not get the full price of the fish they catch and the ice sold by Felivaru has been difficult and as a direct result, reducing the price of the fish being bought from the fishermen.

Responding to the complaints and demands, the CEO of MIFCO, Adlee Ismail said that they would discuss with the fishermen and work to resolve the problems.

He said that there are is difficulty getting ice as the fishermen have complained and to resolve the problem, the construction of an ice plant would begin in Felivaru in the coming week and complete it next month begin service on the first.

MIFCO also issued a press statement today in relation to the complaints and demands from the fishermen.

The statement said that the MIFCO management has met with some fishermen from the north and they would be bringing changes to the fish buying operation to accommodate the demands from the fishermen.

And the operation at Kooddoo and Felivaru would be reviewed and work to establish a balanced, fair system of buying the fish.