The State Trading Organization (STO) has commenced work to establish arrangements to provide fuel at affordable prices to fishermen and the general public across all atolls of the Maldives.
Speaking at a ceremony held at the President's Office today to inaugurate the "Fuel Storage" establishment project aimed at providing fuel at a basic rate from every atoll, STO's Managing Director Shimad Ibrahim stated that this newly launched project will ensure fuel is supplied to the public and fishermen at STO's shed rates in at least one island in every atoll of the Maldives. Under this project, he gave assurances that arrangements will be made to provide fuel from 19 designated islands by the end of February 2026.
Islands designated by STO for fuel services:
HA. Ihavandhoo
HDh. Hanimaadhoo
Sh. Milandhoo
N. Manadhoo
R. Dhuvaafaru
B. Thulhaadhoo
Lh. Felivaru
AA. Mathiveri
ADh. Maamigili/Mahibadhoo
V. Felidhoo
M. Mulah
F. Nilandhoo
Dh. Kudahuvadhoo
Th. Hirilandhoo
L. Gan
GA. Kooddoo
GDh. Faresmaathodaa
Fuvahmulah City
Addu City, Hulhudhoo
Shimad noted that since the Male' area has the highest concentration of fishermen, arrangements were made last June to sell fuel to fishermen at affordable prices from the Fuel Supply Maldives (FSM) shed in Hulhumale'. He added that currently, arrangements are also in place for fishermen to get affordable fuel at Kooddoo Fisheries Complex (KFC) and Felivaru Fisheries Complex (FFC). Since STO's setup is not currently established at those two facilities, Shimad requested the assistance of the Fisheries Ministry to secure the necessary land to establish STO's setup there. Furthermore, Shimad also requested the assistance of the Ministry of Cities, Local Government and Public Works in the work to establish "fuel storage" in the atolls.
Shimad stated that some islands have already allocated land near the harbor for this project. The goal is to establish the setup in the currently designated islands before 2026 to provide affordable fuel to fishermen and the public, and to establish fuel systems in additional islands under this project as the fishing industry develops.
This project is currently planned to proceed under a model where a mobile office is established on each island, supplying fuel to the designated islands via containers. The decision to provide this service as close to the harbor and as far from households as possible was made with the assistance of the Cities Ministry. STO informed that 40-foot containers will be used for this service. STO is also considering hiring people from the respective islands on a contract basis for the civil works.
"Building tanks will take time. And since it is expensive, a 'fuel skid' is a good 'setup' established in those places (islands) via containers, to supply fuel to fishermen in that area through that setup," the STO MD said.
Designating fuel as a basic service and establishing a convenient arrangement for the general public to get petrol and diesel at STO rates in at least one island in every atoll of the Maldives is a presidential pledge of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. The President participated in today's ceremony and inaugurated this project. Several state ministers, senior STO officials, and employees participated in this ceremony.
STO has begun work to arrange fuel availability from all atolls in the Maldives at a time when fishermen are expressing dissatisfaction because MIFCO is controlling and selling the fuel issued to fishermen through STO. Fishermen have had to bear all the hardships in the issue of MIFCO not paying STO regularly for the fuel it takes. Currently, MIFCO issues 1,000 liters of fuel to fishermen. Furthermore, MIFCO's vessels are also not selling fuel at present. Due to this, not getting adequate amounts of fuel has made it difficult for many vessels to depart for fishing. It is believed that this project launched by STO will bring a solution to the current difficulties fishermen face in getting fuel.
