It has been a month since the state-owned Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) stopped paying fishermen for the catch they weighed on credit.
From the 28th of last month until the 26th of November, MIFCO has not paid the bills for the fish purchased from fishermen. While a month has passed without payment, MIFCO has not specified a date when these funds will be disbursed. The company has also not disclosed the volume of fish weighed during this period or the exact amount owed. According to fishermen, the value of the fish weighed to MIFCO will exceed 40 million Rufiyaa.
On the 19th of this month, MIFCO revealed that the "backlog" stood at 32 million Rufiyaa as of that date. At the time, MIFCO stated it was planning to release payments early this week. However, no further updates have been provided so far. The company has not explained why the payments have not been made or why there is a delay.
Given MIFCO's actions, fishermen assumed the company was waiting until a one-month "backlog" accumulated, similar to how it has been issuing monthly payments recently. This is because the company released payments to fishermen after a full month had passed during the previous two months. However, this time, payment was not made even after a month had elapsed.
Details of MIFCO's payments over the past 2 months:
27 September - 27 October: 15.1 million Rufiyaa was released on October 31 (1,528 metric tonnes of fish)
Due to MIFCO's recent delays in releasing payments, fishermen say the company is now paying them on a monthly salary basis, similar to civil service employees. Fishermen argue that their transaction with MIFCO is a business deal, and they provided their hard-earned catch on credit with the expectation of prompt payment in accordance with business principles. They stated that a system of paying whenever the company pleases, or a monthly payment system, is unacceptable.
Among the promises made by this government to secure fishermen's votes were pledges to pay in dollars within 48 hours of weighing the catch and to ensure the price of fish does not drop below 20 Rufiyaa. However, even as the government marks one year in office, payments have not been made within 48 hours. Furthermore, contrary to the promise, the price of fish has been reduced to 16 Rufiyaa.
