Tag: Addu City

Fisheries minister to appear before Majlis for questioning

The minister of fisheries and agriculture has been summoned to the People’s Majlis to answer questions regarding government policy in Addu City, local media has reported.

Dr Mohamed Shainee is said to be appearing upon request of the Maldivian Democratic Party MP for Addu-Meedhoo Rozaina Adam, who also summoned the housing minister for similar questions last week.

The 2008 constitution empowers any member of the Majlis to summon any member of the government or cabinet to parliament for questioning, although the appearance of the Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muiz last week was the first such instance in more than two years.

The opposition expressed concern regarding the Majlis’ oversight capabilities after disputes over the composition of key standing committees, although a compromise was reached last week.

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Housing minister informs MPs of Addu City development plans

Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muiz has told the Majlis of plans for a large number of infrastructure projects in Addu City this year.

Construction of housing units, harbours, roads, health centres, sports facilities, and mosques as well as upgrading of schools are among development projects in the pipeline for the Maldives’ southernmost atoll.

Responding to a query from Addu Meedhoo MP Rozaina Adam at today’s sitting of parliament, Muiz said that developing the second city was a priority of President Abdulla Yameen’s administration.

Muiz noted that harbour construction in the Hithadhoo and Hulhumeedhoo wards were underway and were expected to be completed by the end of the year.

A project for deepening the Maradhoo harbour is also expected to commence this year, he said.

Preparations were also underway to commence a road construction project in Addu City, Muiz revealed, adding that the ministry expected to award the project to a contractor in July.

Questioning of ministers resumed in parliament today after a hiatus of more than two years. Under parliamentary rules of procedure, MPs are allowed to pose questions to cabinet ministers at parliament sittings following a 14-day notice.

Continuing the list of development projects, Muiz said permits have been secured from the Addu City council for a housing project financed by a loan from the Chinese EXIM bank, for which “detailed drawings” have now been completed.

“The work that is currently ongoing is putting up fences around plots of land designated for this project and preparing the site,” he explained.

Application forms have also been processed for 25 row houses built in the Feydhoo ward by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), said the minister, noting that the final list was announced on June 11 – while the lottery draw took place yesterday (June 23).

Moreover, projects overseen by the Office of Programmes and Projects – which functions under the Housing Ministry – include the upgrading of the Addu zone stadium ahead of May’s AFC Challenge Cup and the construction of classrooms in Hithadhoo, he said.

Projects in the bidding stage meanwhile include construction of a mosque in Meedhoo with a capacity of over 700 worshippers, the addition of eight classrooms to the Hithadhoo Nooranee School, and construction of a four-storey building in Feydhoo with 12 classrooms.

The ministry expects these projects to commence during 2014, Muiz said.

A “design and supervision consultancy agreement” has also been signed for the construction of a 100-bed hospital in Hithadhoo with loan assistance from the OPEC fund, Muiz revealed.

Discussions were presently ongoing with the Addu City council on designating a different site for the hospital as the plot of land initially chosen was adjacent to a football stadium, Muiz added.

The minister explained that changing the site would require approval of the financier, which could see the project halted for some months.

Harbour construction in the Meedhoo ward is meanwhile expected to be complete by the end of November.

Following Muiz’s answer, opposition Maldivian Democratic Party MP Rozaina inquired about stalled road construction and installation of street lamps in Hulhumeedhoo.

She noted that the road construction project was launched by the Road Development Corporation in May 2013 under an agreement to complete the work within a year.

In response, Muiz said discussions were ongoing with the Finance Ministry to secure finances for the stalled road construction project.

Installation of street lamps was a municipal task undertaken by the city council, he noted.

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Housing Minister Muiz to be questioned at the People’s Majlis

Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Dr Mohamed Muiz will be questioned at tomorrow’s session of the People’s Majlis.

Muiz is being summoned to the Majlis upon a request from Addu-Meedhoo MP Rozaina Adam to clarify if the government has planned any development projects for Addu city.

Individual MP s can seek to question government ministers through the speaker of the Majlis with chosen minister having to be informed fourteen days prior to the questioning.

The Addu City Council has earlier stated that funds for a number of development projects in the city which were pre-approved by the Housing Ministry were not subsequently included in the 2014 national budget.

Addu is the Maldives’ second most populated area with over 30,000 inhabitants.

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Traffic policing starts in Addu

The Maldives Police Services have started traffic policing in southern Addu City in the wake of frequent and dangerous accidents on the city’s link road.

The service was inaugurated on Monday (June 9).

Chief Inspector of Police Ahmed Shifan said the Addu Traffic Police Cell has employed experienced police officers who have already received training in the Malé Traffic Police Department.

In May, members of Afghanistan’s national football team were injured in an accident on the link road.

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Motorcyclist in Afghan team bus crash tests positive for opiates

The motorcyclist said to have caused yesterday’s bus crash involving the Afghan national football team has tested positive for drugs.

Police have confirmed that the driver tested positive for opiates and also that he had no license.

Police and media reports describe the accident as having been caused when the driver attempted to overtake a van travelling in front of the team’s motorcade. The van was forced to break, causing the following vehicles to hit it from behind.

Five players and two team officials suffered minor injuries in the accident. All were released from hospital yesterday evening, except for Mustafa Azadzoy who was released this morning after experiencing pain in his hip.

One police officer accompanying the motorcade broke an arm, while a female protocol officer suffered head injuries. Eight others, including two soldiers and two locals also suffered injuries.

The team have now travelled to Malé where they will prepare for their semi-final match against Palestine on Tuesday (May 27).

The site of the accident – the 14-kilometer Link Road in Addu City – is the longest paved road in the country and is a notorious accident hot spot.

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Addu City Council launches search for illegal expatriate workers

Addu City Council has started a major operation to locate illegal expatriate workers in the city as of yesterday (May 13).

The council has teamed up with the army, police, and immigration department to conduct a weekly operation in all the islands, according to local media Haveeru.

Mohamed Fathuhy, an official from the immigration department in Addu, said the operation was initiated due to various complaints received about the illegal immigrants in the city.

“We have received a large number of complaints from different work sites about illegal immigrants working there. So our teams will go to those sites and attain all information regarding those immigrants,” he said.

According to Haveeru, Fathuhy said that a key part of the programme will be identifying the illegal worker’s employers, and giving them the means to register their workers legally.

“We will provide extensive information and advice on legalising the immigrants. After that, if we catch the immigrants still active out of the system, we will take strict measures as per regulations,” he said.

The programme in Addu is part of a wider movement across the Maldives to address illegal expatriate workers. In March 2014 the Department of Immigration and Emigration pledged to strengthen action on employers of illegal workers, after having initiated a voluntary repatriation programme.

Deputy CEO of Immigration Abdulla Munaz stated at the time that the department was strengthening the implementation of existing regulations because the provision of employment and shelter is a major cause is rising numbers of undocumented workers in the country.

In addition to the estimated 200,000 migrant workers employed in the Maldives, the number of undocumented workers have been estimated to be as high as 44,000. Many workers live in congested labor quarters owned by locals.

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Addu City Council reveals plans to develop 2000 guesthouse beds

Addu City Council aims to assist in the development of 2000 guest house beds in six areas across the country’s southernmost atoll.

The council’s Guesthouse Tourism Promotion Board – to be established this week – will also oversee five diving centers, six watersports centres, six restaurants, and a sailing club.

“The biggest problem we have in Addu right now is lack of job opportunities. Adduans work in tourism all over the Maldives,” explained Mayor Abdulla ‘Soabe’ Sodiq.

“This venture will allow them to work in their home islands and also open up opportunities to start their own businesses.”

Guest house development on inhabited islands was a key election pledge of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, to which all members of the Addu City Council belong.

The party also campaigned in all recent elections with the pledge to strengthen decentralisation, pushing to increase the role of councils in development.

The US$20million venture is seen by the council as the best way to bring tourism development to the atoll which, despite being the country’s second largest urban area, is home to just 3.6 percent of the industry’s registered bed capacity.

With a recent tourist survey showing that 80 percent of tourists – who numbered over 1 million in 2013 – travel under an hour from Malé’s Ibrahim Nasir International Airport to reach their destination, Addu’s council has also recognised Gan International Airport to be vital to the scheme.

Ahmed Hamed, owner of the atolls only registered guest house – the Charming Holiday Lodge in Meedhoo Island – also feels transport to be the key issue Addu’s full participation in the mid-market sector which has grown from just 22 to 171 registered businesses in five year.

Hamed suggested that the potential for expansion in the atoll is great, but will have to take place in tandem with airlines providing more, and cheaper flights to the atoll.

Less than an hour from the capital Malé, the average price of a domestic flight to Addu is currently similar in price to longer haul tickets to India or Sri Lanka, with Hamed noting that much of his time as a guest house owner has been spent campaigning to get cheaper deals from local carriers.

Having opened his business last year, Hamed already plans to triple his guesthouse’s bed capacity in the coming months.

“People will come to Addu – I have many friends who want to come,” said Ahmed. “If there are more guesthouses I’m sure this will be okay for the airlines.”

Echoing a figure given by the council, Hamed suggested 3000 beds to be the necessary size for a successful guest house industry in the atoll.

During today’s press conference, the council revealed that work to develop Gan Airport – formerly a British RAF base – was ongoing.

The council’s guesthouse promotion board will also assist prospective guest house owners in finding land for 25-year lease periods, in obtaining 70 percent of construction expense, in making connections with tour operators and management companies, as well as staff training

In a document detailing the venture, two sites in Hithadoo – the second largest populated island in the country – have been identified for new developments, as well as single sites in the neighbouring Maradhoo, Maradhoo-Feydhoo, Feydhoo, and across the lagoon in Hulhumeedhoo.

Those who are interested are requested to send a letter or an email to Addu City Council secretariat before 3:00pm on June 30.

Photo by: Naj

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Addu City Council passes resolution to develop guest house tourism

Addu City Council has passed a resolution to create an ‘Addu Guest House Venture’ which will develop and expand the guest house tourism industry within the city, under the guidance of a a ‘Guest House Promotion Board’.

The resolution – passed on Tuesday (April 15) – states that it is important to have the opportunity to develop guest houses and city hotels on the large joined islands of the city, and that it will benefit the tourism industry in general.

Noting that it will create more jobs and new opportunities for start-ups, the resolution stated that it will also increase the number of tourist arrival for the country.

In the past few years the guest house businesses boomed on many islands – growing from just 22 registered businesses in 2009, to 171 currently listed – particularly in close proximity to the capital, Malé.

The list of guest houses available via the Tourism Ministry shows just one registered business in Seenu atoll – home to Addu City, the country’s second largest urban area.

Recent annual figures (2012) show Malé’s Kaafu atoll was home to 39.9 percent of the tourism industry’s bed capacity, while Seenu – the country’s southernmost – had just 3.6 percent.

Addu City Council this week declared that, in order to develop the industry, the Addu Guest House Venture has to be created jointly as a business transaction by the council, members of the public, businesses, and banks.

A five-member guest house promotion board is also to be created under this resolution to represent the council and to communicate on its behalf.

The council is expected to announce applications for the board membership very soon, which according to the council will comprise of technical and experienced persons.

Guest house development on inhabited islands was a key election pledge of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, to which all members of the Addu City Council belong.

The party also campaigned in all recent elections with the pledge to strengthen decentralisation, pushing to increase the role of councils in development.

Political supporters of guest houses have pointed out that mid-market tourism creates opportunities for small businesses while economically empowering local communities.

The current government, led by the Progressive Party of Maldives has announced alternative plans for developing mid-market tourism, with the prospect of  guest house islands replacing the idea of guest houses on inhabited islands.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb has said that various businesses will invest in providing different services on these islands.

“For example, common restaurants can be managed by one party, water sports by another party, twenty rooms by one company, another twenty rooms by another company and so on. In that way, we are creating numerous businesses there,” Adeeb told Minivan News earlier this year.

Adeeb explained that the government was reluctant to market mid-level tourism as it risked damaging the country’s image as a high-end destination.

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MTDC sells Herethera resort for US$33 million

The Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has sold the Herethera Island Resort in Addu City for US$33 million to Singapore’s Canaries Private Ltd.

Of the four companies that submitted bids following a public announcement to sell the resort on December 18, MTDC said in a press release on Monday (March 31) that the Singaporean company submitted the highest bid.

The agreement to transfer lease holder rights for the resort was signed on March 31.

The press release also noted that following the sale of the resort property the MTDC has repaid a loan obtained from the Bank of Maldives for developing the resort.

In June 2013, MTDC’s board of directors decided to sell Herethera – the government-owned company’s biggest asset – for US$30 million to a company with a majority stake owned by local tourism magnate ‘Champa’ Hussain Afeef.

MTDC Managing Director Mohamed Matheen told newspaper Haveeru at the time that the decision was made to sell Herethera to Afeef’s Treetop Investment Pvt Ltd because the government corporation did not have the finances to profitably operate the resort.

He added that a large investment was needed to fix problems with the beach and the environment of the resort in the southernmost atoll.

Herethera was the first resort developed and opened by MTDC while Afeef was chairman of the government’s tourism company.

Tourism pioneer Afeef meanwhile told the local daily that the Herethera development would take place in conjunction with the development of the international airport in Gan.

In November 2012, thirty percent of the Addu International Airport Ltd (AIAL) was sold to Afeef’s Kasa Holdings to raise finances to develop the Gan airport in Addu City.

However, the decision to sell the resort to Afeef was reversed following the election of President Abdulla Yameen.

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