Minister: Fish storage capacity to be increased 25,000 tons by end of this term

Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shiyam, on Wednesday, revealed the government’s goal to increase the fish storage capacity to 25,000 tons by the end of this five-year term.

He made the remark while responding to questions from lawmakers at Wednesday’s parliamentary sitting.

Opposition MDP’s Maradhoo MP Ahmed Didi had inquired from the Minister why fishermen were not being disbursed payments within 48 hours as pledged by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and whether they government was just giving excuses for its shortcomings.

In response, Minister Shiyam said emphasized that the current administration will not “run away” from the pledge and in this trajectory, affirmed that the pledge will be fulfilled.

Former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration increased the fish purchasing rate from MVR 17 to MVR 25 during last year’s presidential campaign. The rate was lowered by the current administration due to the financial burden on the state.

Referencing this, Minister Shiyam accused the former administration of raising the fish purchasing rate without conducting any prior research. He also noted that MVR 250 million was pending in payments for fishermen when the current administration assumed office.

“We are regularly disbursing payments for fishermen. There will be no fisheries industry if the price of had not been reviewed to reflect the prices in the international market. That is a decision taken by the President for the development of this industry,” he said.

The Minister’s response angered MDP’s Parliamentary Group leader, Hithadhoo MP Ibrahim Nazim who questioned whether there was sufficient storage when there was a backlog of MVR 250 million in payments.

Minister Shiyam responded by citing the lack of capacity as the biggest obstruction in the Maldivian fisheries industry. In this regard, he detailed that there was not much of a difference compared to before and now despite it being 46 years since Felivaru was operationalized. He stressed that the fisheries industry had not seen any major development despite 28 years since the inception of state fisheries company, Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO).

“How can we store fish worth MVR 250 million. We are talking about how we lack storage. By the will of Almighty, the storage capacity will be increased to 25,000 tons by the end of this term,” he added.

Statistics released by MIFCO show it cleared MVR 862.3 million in pending dues to fishermen between November 17, 2023 and September 30, 2024 – which had reduced the outstanding balance to MVR 6.1 million. But the balance has since increased to MVR 9.1 million.

Nevertheless, Minister Shiyam assured that payment for pending dues will be disbursed to fishermen tomorrow.