The MIFCO port construction project at the Addu Fisheries Complex (AFC) in Hulhumeedhoo has neared completion.

The project was awarded to the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) in 2020 under the PSIP. MTCC has been awarded the project for MVR 69 million. Phase 1 of the project includes dredging of the canal and construction of a 90-metre along-side jetty.

AFC Regional Manager Ahmed Shahid said the AFC Export Jetty has been dredged to accommodate large ships. However, the jetty work has been delayed due to the unexcavated access road.

Works currently underway on the jetty include paving, lighting and freezing container basement, Shahid said. Once the works are completed, the Maldives State Shipping (MSS) ship will be able to load containers and export the fish, he said.

"Once all the work of the jetty is completed, MIFCO's small vessels will be able to load and unload fish easily," Shahid explained.

AFC Operations Deputy Manager Ali Shiyaz said the site is a center for buying fish from fishermen and cooling it and exporting it.

"If this jetty is completed, we will have a huge improvement. We will be able to export the fish directly from our jetty," Shiyaz explained.

85 percent of the project has been completed. MTCC said the unfinished channel dredging work has been suspended for one month.

However, the suspension was lifted in mid-June last year and MTCC's dredger has been brought to the site in Addu City.