The total unpaid funds owed to fishermen have been handed over to the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Ltd (MIFCO).

This was announced by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu in a post on social media platform ‘X’ on Wednesday.

Taking to ‘X’, Muizzu revealed that as of Wednesday, the total amount of unpaid funds to fishermen has been handed over to MIFCO for disbursement to the respective parties, and work is ongoing to establish a sustainable system for payment within 48 hours as stated in the manifesto.

The president has confirmed this at a time Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Resources Ahmed Shiyam has said that all funds owed to fishermen will be fully paid by Thursday, clearing the entire backlog.

Speaking at Wednesday’s sitting of the People’s Majlis, the minister said that the remaining unpaid amount to fishermen amounts to MVR 16 million and that the Ministry of Finance was working to transfer the full amount to MIFCO.

He added that they will work on crediting the funds owed to fishermen by Thursday’s end.

The government has clarified that all funds owed to fishermen will be fully paid to MIFCO by Thursday at a time MIFCO recently stated that there was no way to pay fishermen for their catch.

The MVR 17.3 million released to fishermen before September 26 was also expedited due to protests by the fisher community. This was for one month's payment.

The release of these funds was expedited after fishermen began protesting and blocking teams from the Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources from arriving in outlying islands.

The infuriated fishing community and local residents of the islands effectively expelled the fisheries ministry team, stating that residents and fishermen did not want the fisheries ministry team to enter because the island’s fishermen have not been paid for their catch.

The issue of the government failing to settle fishermen’s dues has been churning turmoil within the industry for months now.

Citing the massive delay in settling their dues, fisherman have noted that this has led to several concerns raising within the fisher community, once again. Further, the fisherman noted that it was not acceptable to have to take to the streets to pour their concerns every time the payments get delayed.

Having painted a mesmerizing picture for the community, Muizzu came into power with huge promises made to fishermen.

Some of the many promises he made to the fisher community include ensuring their rights as well as paying them for catch upfront.

Despite embedding this “ideal” picture into fishermen’s minds, the incumbent administration has slashed the price of fish bought from fishing boats and significantly increased the price of oil. Muizzu also promised that the government would make it possible for fishermen to get fuel at affordable rates, going on to promise that they would begin purchasing yellowfin tuna for MIFCO as well.

Muizzu had back then assured that if he is elected, fishermen would be paid in US dollars for their catch within the first 48 hours.

However, fishermen have been stressing that the government is yet to fulfil any of these promises, and bring life to the picture painted before coming into power.

Distressed fishermen have stressed that the percentage of people going fishing now has significantly gone down as they are not being paid, in turn resulting in less people growing fondness for fishing, which is considered a major lifeline of the country’s economy.

Almost eleven months since assuming office, the incumbent administration has failed embarrassingly in delivering promises made to the community, with fishermen saying that they do not know what happened to all the “big talk”.