Operations resumed at Kooddoo on Wednesday evening as fishermen ended a protest over outstanding payments after four days.
Fishermen from 27 boats protested inside the Kooddoo Fisheries Complex since February 18 over more than MVR 300 million owed for fish catch purchased by the factory.
Weighing fish catch and other operations at Kooddoo halted after the protest began.
The protest was called off after the government-owned Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) started making payments yesterday.
Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shiyam said the government will always listen to the concerns of fishermen and stay open to peacefully resolving disputes through dialogue.
“The government’s biggest aim is to solve the concerns of fishermen, develop the fisheries industry, increase income from fisheries and increase the prosperity of fishing families,” Shiyam said.
The children of fishermen would run the country in the future and fishermen should set an example for future generations, Shiyam said.
After citing financial constraints for the inability to clear pending payments, MIFCO started making payments yesterday ahead of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s visit to the island of Villingili next to Kooddoo. It was a stop on the President’s tour of the four southernmost atolls.
In a statement yesterday, the government fisheries company said it has started releasing funds in line with a detailed payment schedule shared with fishermen during a meeting at Kooddoo.
On Tuesday, MIFCO CEO Ahmed Shamah Rasheed told the protesting fishermen that the company has made arrangements to disburse MVR 119 million and shared details of how the payments would be made.
Fisheries Minister Shiyam told Adhadhu yesterday that the government was trying to pay out MVR 70 million over two days and MVR 30 million next Sunday.
The Fisheries Ministry said previously that all outstanding payments would be settled by March 5. At Tuesday’s sitting of Parliament, Shiyam said MVR 100 million could be paid out by next Monday.
The fishermen said they were not paid for two months after the current administration took office three months ago. According to the government, it inherited a backlog of MVR 250 million. Since then, outstanding payments owed to fishers remained constant around MVR 300 million.
The protesting fishermen, who vowed to stay in Kooddoo until a large portion of the pending payments were settled, told Adhadhu that each of the boats was owed more than MVR 4 million.
The fish purchasing price was raised to MVR 25 per kilo during the presidential election campaign on September 16, 2023. The current government called the hike “politically motivated” and told fishermen that MIFCO could not afford to buy at that rate. The price was reduced to MVR 20 per kilo with effect on February 12, 2024.
