Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed says this administration came to power behind MDP's manifesto that promised better lives for fishermen and has now called on the administration to revert back to the manifesto to achieve the vision outlined in the document.
Nasheed said last night he had received several calls from fishermen who had complained about many things including the difficulties in weighing their daily catch and he added that they were right to complain about the situation.
The Speaker said that the fishermen had highlighted how encouraged they had been by MDP's 2018 manifesto and how they had called on other fishermen to vote for MDP based on the document.
Nasheed noted that fishing in the Maldives increases at the beginning and end of the year and once the daily catch increases there is no mechanism set in place to deal with the excess fish.
He explained that MDP had always prioritized fishermen's rights and making sure that they receive the just price for their daily catch by including this in their manifesto for each election but the 2018 manifesto was vastly focused on producing more from the sea.
Nasheed accused the government of forgoing the MDP manifesto pledges that would take away the government's role in further developing the fisheries industry. Nasheed pointed out that it had been clear for many days that it is not effective to have government corporations try to cultivate the industry by building ice plants and storage as well as factories.
The Speaker called on the administration to return to the path set by MDP's manifesto and fulfill its promises to the fishermen.
He called on government corporations to stop accumulating more debt whilst increasing space inside fish factories and urged the government to build smaller but efficient factories.
