MIFCO operates without a CEO for 6 months

The state-owned fisheries company, Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), has been operating without a CEO for six months.

It has been six months today since Ahmed Samah Rasheed, who held the position of MIFCO's CEO, was dismissed from the post and as a board director of the company on May 21 this year, and a CEO has not been appointed to the company. Neither the government nor the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) has disclosed why a CEO has not been appointed.

While a long time has passed with MIFCO operating without a CEO, the company is currently being temporarily run under the supervision of Ilyas Haneef, who holds the position of Chief Financial Officer of the company.

The Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) has announced twice to find a CEO for MIFCO. The first announcement made on June 26, 2024, was canceled on July 16, stating that no eligible candidate had applied. After that, the deadline for the announcement made on September 29 expired at 1400 hrs on October 8, 2024, and the PCB has not yet publicly commented on the announcement.

Among the measures taken by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu after assuming office, MIFCO, which was previously a subsidiary of the State Trading Organization (STO), was changed to a 100% state-owned company. MIFCO officials and senior government officials have been saying that the current government is taking many steps to strengthen MIFCO's operations. However, the quality of services provided by the company to fishermen, who are the most dependent on MIFCO, has deteriorated significantly compared to before. In this regard, the amount of diesel issued by the company to fishing vessels, which was previously issued without control and deducted from the price of fish weighed by fishermen, has been reduced. Currently, 1000 liters are issued per vessel. The disbursement of money for fish taken on credit by vessels has also been significantly delayed. Due to this reason, it has become difficult for vessels to go fishing, and the amount of fish weighed to MIFCO has also decreased significantly compared to last year.