President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has stated that MIFCO's Managing Director, Brigadier General (Retired) Farhath Shaheer, has given assurances that the weighing scales used at the state-owned Kooddoo Fisheries Complex will be digitized by December 10.
Speaking at a special ceremony held at the Social Centre last night to mark the government's two-year anniversary, under the theme "Forward with the People - Week 104," President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu highlighted that Kooddoo is one of the most frequently used centers by fishermen and provided updates on the ongoing development projects at the facility.
"The foreign-funded projects and the direct work being carried out by the government and MIFCO at Kooddoo are currently ongoing. There were some delays in the past... some time was lost in certain aspects of the foreign funding. However, it has now been restarted very well," President Dr. Muizzu said.
Noting that the development of Kooddoo is being carried out by closely listening to the fishermen, President Dr. Muizzu stated that the issue of the weighing scales currently used in Kooddoo was a concern. To resolve this, he has instructed MIFCO to digitize the current scales, and he noted that MIFCO has assured him the scales will be digitized by December 10.
"This is an issue that fishermen very justifiably complain about. By the time the weighing is done on that scale, half the value of the fish is lost. That is why the scale needs to be changed. We are moving towards Digital Maldives 2.0, and we are digitizing this scale. We are working on this... I have already informed MIFCO. Now the MIFCO MD has also assured me that the scales will be digitized by December 10. Then two or three kilos will be saved, or the value will be received. When the value is received, the 16 rufiyaa will be closer to 20," President Dr. Muizzu said.
Highlighting that regular payments to fishermen is one of the most important efforts by the government to advance the fisheries industry, he stated that the backlog of over 200 million rufiyaa inherited from the previous government has been cleared. In line with his presidential pledge, he noted that since December 10 of last year, fishermen have been paid consistently within 48 hours without interruption.
"It has been almost a year since December 10 of last year, hasn't it? Not a single day has been missed; money is being paid regularly. Money is being paid regularly whether it is a public holiday, Ramadan, Eid, or any other day. Up to today, we have been disbursing all those funds regularly," President Dr. Muizzu said.
The President stated that the government is paying attention to such matters to advance the fisheries sector. As a result, people who had left the industry are returning, and those who had previously sold their boats are trying to acquire boats again. The President said this is because there is now an assurance of receiving payments regularly.
