Tendering process begins to establish ice plants in five additional islands

The Ministry of Fisheries has announced the decision to tender the establishment of ice plants in five additional islands.

The Ministry made this statement in a message shared on X to disclose the work done by the Ministry to implement the fisheries policies included in the Week-14 roadmap set by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

According to the message, with the aim of expanding and developing the Maldives' fisheries sector, the work of establishing ice plants in 5 islands has been sent for tender, contracted to MIFCO, to arrange easy access to ice for fishermen.

Furthermore, the Ministry stated that 10 million Rufiyaa has been allocated to establish ice plants through the government's SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC) "Kandufalhu Nafa" loan program, with additional funds decided to be issued as loans to facilitate the purchase and installation of Refrigerated Sea Water (RSW) systems and to ease operations for reef fishermen. SDFC opened the opportunity to apply for this loan on the 21st of this month.

Minister of Fisheries Ahmed Shiyam has stated that the lack of adequate ice availability for fishermen is currently one of the main issues facing the Maldives' fisheries industry. The Minister also gave assurance that this issue will be resolved within the five years of this government.