Contrary to Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shiyam's claim, outstanding payments owed to fishers for catch weighed by the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited (MIFCO) amount to MVR 296 million, the company's financial records obtained by Adhadhu have revealed.
Minister Shiyam said on Friday that fishers were owed MVR 190 million as of last week. However, information shared with Adhadhu by a reliable source showed that the real amount unpaid to fishers was MVR 106 million higher.
Information from MIFCO also made it clear that figures shared by the government as outstanding payments owed to fishers were not entirely accurate. The details are below.
Weight of fish weighed by MIFCO
- September 16 to November 16 - 16,694 tons
- November 17 to January 31 - 16,540 tons
Price of fish weighed by MIFCO
- September 16 to November 16 - MVR 392 million
- November 17 to January 31 - MVR 400 million
Payments owed by MIFCO to fishers
- September 16 to November 16 - MVR 195 million
- November 17 to January 31 - MVR 296 million
Based on the figures, the amount owed to fishers by November 16 (when the previous government's term ended) was MVR 195 million. After assuming office, the current government settled payments for some of these bills.
However, Fisheries Minister Shiyam's statements suggest that MIFCO has been unable to regularly pay for new fish catch as a result of having to make payments for bills in the backlog. In order to solve the problem, the government intends to pay fishers even if it requires taking a loan with a sovereign guarantee.
