The fishermen of Lhaviyani Atoll Naifaru has gathered near the Naifaru Island Council office to protest since they have not received payment for the fish sold to the government.

President of the Naifaru Island Council, Mohamed Kaarim told One Online that about 50 fishermen have been protesting since 7:30 a.m. this morning.

He said that the fishermen have requested that the Council relay their concerns to the relevant ministries of the government and it is being done so.

According to Council President Kaarim, the primary concern of the fishermen is that the payments are not being made day to day and it has been a consistent problem with every government.

Regarding the situation, the Managing Director of the state fishing company MIFCO, Ismail Fauzee told One Online that there are pending payments to fishermen since 1 July which totals to about MVR 34 million.

He said that the company is working to clear the payments of the first ten days which is about MVR 19 million; generally transferred online. And the remaining MVR 14 million will be cleared as revenue comes in.