30% Cut to Import Duties at Southern and Northern ports in Maldives

Import duties levied at the Northern and Southern Regional Ports of the Maldives are to be cut by 30% from 1 July 2010.

President Nasheed approved the 30% cut after recommendations by the Cabinet.

Cabinet made the recommendations mainly to lessen pressure on the Malé commercial port and to increase economic activity at regional ports.

The Cabinet also declared Kalhaidhoo island, Haddhunmathi (Laamu) atoll as an uninhabited island. Kalhaidhoo was judged unsafe, following the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Most Kalhaidhoo people have been relocated to Gan on the same atoll, and currently only 27 people remain in Kalhaidhoo. The French Red Cross has provided housing for Kalhaidhoo people at Gan.