Gasim vows to buy fish at MVR 26 per kg
"If I come to power this time, no fisherman in any part of this country will sell skipjack tuna for less than MVR 25 per kg".
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By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
JP presidential candidate Gasim Ibrahim said on Wednesday that the government will buy fish from fishermen for MVR 26 per kg if he wins the presidential election.
Gasim is campaigning for the president’s election in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll, and he pledged this in his visit to the atoll’s capital Thinadhoo on Tuesday.
Speaking in the fishery island, Gasim said the government fish company, MIFCO, is being operated at a loss.
He said he was happy that the people were benefiting as the government was giving money to MIFCO despite the huge losses. However, that is not a good way to do business, he said.
"It is being done the same way as was before. The government is suffering a huge loss," he said.
Gasim, who has set up Horizon Company and is running a fish export business, said his business is like MIFCO. He said he had invested MVR 250 million in Horizon but the business was not profitable.
Some other presidential candidates also believe that the price of fish can be increased by producing and exporting other products instead of just exporting raw fish. Without giving details, Gasim then said he would only be able to increase the price of fish if he came to power.
"With God's help, if I come to power this time, no fisherman in any part of this country will sell skipjack tuna for less than MVR 25 per kg. In fact, we will buy it for MVR 26 per kg," he said.
Gasim, who represents Maamigili constituency in parliament, said that although the JP has been in every government so far, the government is doing things like fixing the same price of fish without any consultation.
"Now I can't do that. Why is that? I'm not the president of the country. They don't believe what I say," he said.
"Otherwise, I would have told them how, I would have told them how to do this.
Like Gasim, several other presidential candidates have promised to raise the price of fish under their rule. As such, The Democrats candidate Ilyas Labeeb said he would raise the price of fish to MVR 25 per kg under his administration.
