President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has stated that by the end of the next three years, the cold storage capacity in ice plants across the Maldives will increase to 24,500 tonnes.
He made these remarks while speaking at the special ceremony held last night under the name "Forward with the Citizens - Week 104" to mark the government's two-year anniversary.
In his speech, the President noted that when the current government took office, fishermen had been abandoned without receiving any necessary support, and he emphasized that this government's top priority was to give attention and precedence to the fisheries sector to facilitate their needs. In this regard, he pointed out that when the government came into power, ice plants—one of the most essential facilities for fishermen—were broken and left unrepaired. He stated that this government has repaired numerous ice plants, built many new ones, and recently opened ice plants in four new islands.
Highlighting the government's ongoing efforts to resolve the difficulties fishermen face in obtaining ice, President Dr. Muizzu stated that loans have been provided to install Refrigerated Sea Water (RSW) systems on fishing vessels, and many boats have now installed this system. He also noted that Bank of Maldives (BML) has recently opened a new opportunity for installing this system.
"There is a new opportunity open now, hundreds of opportunities open to install RSW. Fishermen should take this opportunity. By taking the opportunity available through SDFC, ice will be available on the boat. Therefore, establishing ice plants and increasing cold storage is another effort we are undertaking," President Dr. Muizzu said.
Shedding light on the government's efforts to increase ice storage capacity, President Dr. Muizzu stated that when this government took office, the cold storage capacity was at 9,500 tonnes, and by the end of the next three years, this figure will change to 24,500 tonnes.
