Under the Maldives Employment Act, before the first day of Ramadan, every Maldivian employee must be given a minimum of MVR 3,000 as a Ramadan allowance. In accordance with this, the Ministry of Finance issued the upcoming Ramadan allowance to civil servants and employees of independent institutions last Wednesday. It is reported that their allowance was issued along with the salary for the current month of February.
There is no issue with that. Maldivian fishermen are not civil servants. Fishermen belong to the private sector. Surely, according to the Employment Act, fishermen are not deprived of the Ramadan allowance. According to the Employment Act, Maldivian employees working in the private sector must be given one-third of their salary as a Ramadan allowance before the first day of Ramadan. If one-third of the salary is less than two thousand rufiyaa, two thousand rufiyaa must be given, and if it is more than ten thousand rufiyaa, ten thousand rufiyaa must be given to the employee before Ramadan.
The question that arises now is who will give the Ramadan allowance to the fishermen belonging to one of the main industries of the Maldives and the industry that brings in the most money to the state. Fishermen do not go fishing by making an employment agreement with the boat owner. And, the monthly salary is not something guaranteed in advance. The wages of fishermen are the amount received from the system of distributing the catch among the crew based on the amount of fish caught. Even so, very few fishermen belong to companies. The hope is that they are included among the allowance recipients.
Maldivian fishermen are the ones who work hardest in the scorching sun during Ramadan and provide fish, which is one of the main types of food required for the citizens' meals. It is a huge mistake for fishermen to be deprived of the Ramadan allowance. While some people take a huge salary and work for a short time in the AC during Ramadan, fishermen conquer the massive seas and find the fish they need to eat, so it is completely unreasonable that fishermen do not get a Ramadan allowance.
"We are living without even getting the money for the fish we weighed properly. I don't know if the Ramadan allowance is something we get. I haven't received it so far. It's been thirty years since I started fishing," a fisherman said.
A captain from Addu said that he has been in fishing since he was 18 years old and even after 38 years in fishing, he has never received a Ramadan allowance.
"Let alone the Ramadan allowance, we don't get any allowance the government says it will give. According to what you say, the boat owner has to give it, right? I have never heard a boat owner say that. We have been made into a very poor group of people. I hope something will happen," the captain said.
I sought the opinions of fishermen from all corners of the Maldives on the Ramadan allowance issue. All the fishermen I spoke to said they never get a Ramadan allowance. The fishermen said that even though it is mandated by law, it does not happen that way.
"I am just hearing about it. We don't get the allowance you are talking about. We are left out. The other day, while we were starving, MIFCO even distributed canned fish to PNC people. What would happen if they gave it to us? We can also promote MIFCO. Politicians also sell our name. They use our name. Once elected, they don't care at all," a young fisherman said.
Fishermen are very disappointed and concerned about the delay in receiving the money owed to them and the issue of not receiving the Ramadan allowance. Fishermen said that whoever has to give it, the Ramadan allowance is something fishermen deserve. They said that it must be ensured whether fishermen get it, and if the people who have to give the allowance do not give it, the government must take action against them. And a way must be made for fishermen to get that allowance.
Someone has to bear the responsibility of giving the Ramadan allowance to fishermen.
