Minister of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture Ahmed Shiyam has stated that arrangements have been made for fishermen to obtain subsidized fuel in all atolls except two.
Speaking at a press conference held at the President's Office today, Minister Shiyam said that the Middle East war has presented many challenges for the Maldives, and specifically, the tensions from the war have brought significant changes to fuel prices. He noted that any change in fuel prices is a difficulty that fishermen have to endure the most.
"Unless fishermen go out to the fishing grounds, we cannot land this fish. And unlike other businesses, the fishing industry is largely operated by families or communities, so these challenges actually affect the fishing industry the most. Fishing is our primary industry. This has a very negative impact on both fishing and agriculture," Minister Ahmed Shiyam said.
The Minister stated that among the measures taken by the government to mitigate the effects of the war, arrangements were made to provide fuel to fishermen at a lower price. He added that this was done to encourage fishermen to go out to sea, and under these efforts, arrangements have now been made for fishermen to get fuel in all atolls except two.
"At this moment, arrangements have been made to get this subsidized fuel in all atolls of the Maldives except two. Currently, we cannot sell fuel directly every day in M. Atoll and L. Atoll. However, sometimes with the arrangements to get fuel from MIFCO boats, we are able to sell some fuel in these two atolls as well. But at this moment, we have not been able to provide a permanent solution in these two atolls," Minister Ahmed Shiyam said.
Under this arrangement, all fishing vessels registered in the government's 'Fahi Hakatha' program that meet the criteria to purchase subsidized fuel are allocated and issued a fuel quota through the established official Fisheries Information System. Therefore, all fishing vessels participating in the Fahi Hakatha program can now obtain fuel at subsidized prices without any difficulty in all atolls except M. Atoll and Th. Atoll.
