Proposals sought for EIA to establish ice plant and cold storage in L. Hithadhoo

Proposals have been opened to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) required to establish an ice plant and cold storage in L. Hithadhoo.

Under this project, which is being carried out by the government through the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited (MIFCO), a 60-tonne cold storage and a 40-tonne seawater tube ice plant are scheduled to be established in Hithadhoo. MIFCO made a public announcement yesterday seeking a party to prepare the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report required for this project. The opportunity to submit estimates or proposals is now open to interested and eligible parties. The Terms of Reference for the work are attached with the announcement.

According to the announcement, the deadline for submitting bids or proposals is 12:00 on 15 March 2026. Bids must be submitted only to the email address contract@mifco.mv, and the announcement states that MIFCO reserves the right to reject bids sent to any other email address or copied (CC'd).

The bid opening meeting will be held at 13:00 on 15 March 2026. The meeting will be conducted via Microsoft Teams, in the presence of all registered bid participants. To register to participate in the bid opening meeting, MIFCO has requested that the following information be completed and emailed to bid@mifco.mv before 12:00 on 15 March 2026.

Information to be included in the email to register for the bid meeting:

• Announcement number

• Company name

• Name and phone number

MIFCO stated that participation in this meeting is not mandatory and is optional. Furthermore, MIFCO stated that any party submitting a proposal before the set deadline will be considered a registered bidder. If any clarification is required regarding this matter, MIFCO has requested to email bid@mifco.mv.

Establishing an ice plant in L. Hithadhoo is a presidential pledge of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. The agreement to award this work was signed by the government with MIFCO during President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's visit to L. Atoll in October last year, as part of his visit to Hithadhoo.

Once the work on the ice plant being established in Hithadhoo is completed and brought into operation, it will bring great relief to the fishermen of Hithadhoo, L. Atoll, and the region. In particular, it will benefit those engaged in reef fishing in the area.