The ice plant in GDh. Fiyoaree is to be closed down.
The Fisheries Ministry stated that the decision to close the facility was made because the current plant is damaged beyond repair. Furthermore, it was decided that a 100-tonne plant will be established when the fish factory is built in Fiyoaree.
Although the GDh. Fiyoaree ice plant had been operated by the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company since its establishment, the facility was handed over to Fenaka on 22 September 2022. It is a 25-tonne ice plant.
The Fisheries Ministry's decision to close the facility comes after it had been out of service for many days, with Fiyoaree fishermen and the council expressing concern and repeatedly requesting to bring it back into operation.
Fiyoaree Council requested to bring the island's ice plant into operation
The Fisheries Ministry contracted Fenaka Corporation to build a 25-tonne ice plant in Fiyoaree on 31 January 2023. The work was awarded to Fenaka for 4.89 million Rufiyaa, to be completed within 170 days. However, it is unclear whether the ice plant work proceeded, and detailed information is unavailable. Last August, Fenaka announced that it had stopped building and operating ice plants. Out of the ice plants it had been operating, 12 have now been handed over to MIFCO. The ice plants that have not been handed over are still being operated by Fenaka.
The government has decided to build a 3,000-metric-tonne cold storage and a fish factory capable of processing 100 tonnes per day in Fiyoaree. The Fisheries Ministry previously stated that China's Dongfang Company, which is carrying out the project, has completed the preparation of the technical proposal required to build the fish factory. The government signed an MOU with the company to build the fish factory on 14 April 2024.
