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Finance minister claims “cash flow” issues behind delay in clearing Male’ City Council utility debts

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad has claimed that a delay in clearing debts owed to various utility providers by Male’ City Council (MCC) is the result of a “cash flow” issue facing his department.

On Saturday (December 22), the MCC revealed that it owed an outstanding electricity bill of MVR 3.9 million (US$ 254,569) to the State Electricity Company Limited (STELCO).

A further MVR 400,000 (US$ 26,109) is also owed by the MCC to telecommunication service provider Dhiraagu, who earlier this week disconnected all telephone and internet services in the council’s offices.

Finance Minister Jihad yesterday (December 24) blamed “cash flow” issues for his ministry’s failure to clear the MMC’s debts.

“We are in the process of relieving the funds, however we have had some cash flow issues and that is why there has been a delay in the clearing the MCC’s debt.

“We are working to clear the debt in the next couple of days,” Jihad told Minivan News.

Asked yesterday whether the government lacked the money to repay the bills, Jihad replied: “The government has to manage the cash flow, they make the payments. There is a cash flow issue.”

MCC Mayor ‘Maizan’ Ali Manik Manik previously claimed that the outstanding payment owed to STELCO by the MCC threatens to leave all council owned properties and utilities – including street lights – without power.

Speaking to Minivan News today (December 25) Manik said that he had personally told members of the Finance Ministry to make a “settlement” with all the utility companies that are currently owed money.

“I told the ministry that if they don’t have the cash flow to pay these debts, then they should speak to Dhiraagu and STELCO and make a settlement,” he said.

“Even if it means saying that they will be paid in a month’s time, even a year’s time, anything is better than the current situation. I have a feeling we are going to be in darkness after December 27.”

Mayor Manik has previously told Minivan News on December 22 that MMC had filed all necessary documents and paper work with the finance ministry in order for the outstanding bills to be paid.

He claimed that having spoken to Jihad about the issue at the time, the finance minister had assured him that both the STELCO and Dhiraagu bills would be paid by his ministry on December 23.

However, STELCO Media Co-ordinator Abdulla Nazir revealed that as of December 23, no money had been deposited by the finance ministry.

Dhiraagu disconnection

On Thursday (December 20), local media reported that Dhiraagu had disconnected all phone and internet services it provided to the MCC due to unpaid bills.

MCC member Ibrahim Shajau claimed that over MVR 400,000 (US$ 26,109) is owed by the council to Dhiraagu, alleging that the Finance Ministry had failed to release the funds.

“We have sent all relevant documents to Finance Ministry. It’s up to [them] to pay the money. Dhiraagu said that Finance Ministry had not paid the money,” he told Sun Online.

Dhiraagu Marketing and PR Ibrahim Imjad Jaleel told local media that the services were disconnected after advising the council on numerous occasions to pay their bills.

“We disconnected the services today after giving them time even today to pay the bills after the offices opened. We had to cut off our services after their failure to pay any amount after several days of discussions. We are trying with our customer even now, to find a way to resume the services,” he said.

STELCO debt

Meanwhile, STELCO Media Coordinator Abdulla Nazir revealed that MCC had a “long history” of outstanding payments, adding that the stated figure of MVR 3.9 million was only part of the overall debt owed to the company.

“STELCO has received no money so far. There are many months of outstanding debt from MCC, more than the MVR 3.9 million we have asked for,” Nazir said. “While we have received no statement or payment from the Finance Ministry, we have received a letter from MCC dated December 19. They said their bills have been sent to the Finance Ministry, and they have asked the ministry to settle the outstanding payments.”

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Tobacco Control Act could see tomato, potato cultivation banned

Tomato and potato cultivation could be banned in the Maldives under requirements outlined under the new Tobacco Control Act, local media has reported today.

Under the act, the cultivation of any species in the tobacco family – which includes potatoes, tomatoes and peppers – would be prohibited in the Maldives.

The tobacco family known as Solanaceae contains roughly 90 genera and around 2,000 species.

Assistant Director of the Agricultural Ministry Mohamed Naseem was quoted in local media as saying that the new law would prohibit the cultivation of potato and tomato in the country. He stated that the issue has been brought to the attention of the health ministry and that it must be revised.

The Agriculture Ministry has met the Centre for Community Health and Disease Control over the matter.

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“No choice” but to wait, Maldivians facing overnight queue for India medical visas

Maldivian citizens queuing outside the Indian High Commission in Male’ to obtain visas to travel for medical treatment in India have allegedly been told they must now wait until December 26 before any further paperwork can be processed.

This morning (December 24) individuals waiting outside the Indian High Commission building told Minivan News that they have “no choice” but continue to wait, after it was allegedly announced that no visas will be processed on December 25.

Earlier this month, the High Commission of India forewarned Maldivians that it would now take one week to process visas required to travel to India.

At 2:00am this morning (December 24), Minivan News witnessed at least 30 Maldivians queued in the rain, waiting for the Indian High Commission building to open.

Male’ inhabitant Ihusaan Jaufar claimed he had been waiting for three days to pick up a medical visa so that an ill family member could receive treatment in India.

“We have been doing shifts so that we do not lose our place in the queue. Before we would make trips to India maybe ten times per year and it was easy, now it has become very difficult.

“They allow 53 passports to be processed each day, but some people are carrying four passports including their own, so rather than 53 people who have queued getting their visas, instead maybe only 10 or 12 are receiving their visas,” Jaufar said.

Maldivian nationals do not require a visa to enter India and stay for 90 days, however they are prohibited from revisiting the country within two months. Patients who need to return to India for health reasons then have to apply for a medical visa.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised Maldivians to try to obtain the relevant visas prior to their travel, after the Indian High Commission announced that visa-free travel facilities to India are valid for tourism purposes only.

Travel for medical, business or official reasons will require a relevant visa for those purposes, the Indian High Commission has stated.

At 10:30am today (December 24) the 30-strong queue still remained, however some within the queue had alleged they has been told by Indian High Commissioner D M Mulay that they would now have to wait until December 26 for their visas. The high commission has denied any such claims were made.

Ahmed Didi, a Maldivian waiting in the queue today spoke of his frustration and concern for his family currently living in India.

“I have been waiting to get home for over a week and i’ve been in this queue for the last three days. I’m going to have to ask my friends if we can do shifts in queue so that we do not lose our place. It’s [the queue] going to be huge after 48 hours.

“It is frustrating as I need to get home. My wife is currently looking after my 74-year-old father who is paralysed and my son. She is struggling to cope without me there to help,” Didi said.

According to Didi, the High Commission is issuing tokens to people who can then have their visas processed. Didi claimed that for the last three days only 40 tokens have been issued per day, however this has now been increased to 53.

“The problem is that some people in the queue are holding multiple passports for friends and family. Fortunately the [Indian High] Commission has limited the number of passports per person to just three,” he said.

Didi claimed that earlier in the morning, Mulay had announced to the queue that he was working to resolve the issue and that it came down to a lack of cooperation from the Maldives government.

A source from within the Indian High Commission denied these claims, adding that “no such comment had been made”.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ibrahim Muaz Ali also denied allegations of conflict between the government and the Indian High Commission, stating that the foreign ministry was doing its best to help those waiting for a visa.

“There is no lack of cooperation between the Indian High Commission and the Foreign Ministry, we are having regular meetings to discuss the [visa] issue.

“We have a separate desk within the Indian High Commission building that is helping to deal with Maldivian citizens looking to obtain visas,” Muaz said. “We are trying to prioritise based on medical needs. For example, yesterday we had a man come through who needed urgent treatment for cancer and we were able to speak with the Commission to have his medical visa processed quicker.”

Despite the claims, Former President Mohamed Nasheed has alleged in local media today that the current approvals required for medical travel to India were a direct response to the Maldives government’s decision to terminate a sovereign agreement to develop Irahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

India-based infrastructure group GMR had signed an agreement with Nasheed’s government back in 2010 to develop and manage INIA over a 25-year period. The government of Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik opted late last month to declare the agreement void and gave the developer seven days to leave the country.

Visitor numbers

Times of India (TOI) reported that a total of 54,956 Maldivians visited the country in 2008, 55,159 in 2009 and 58,152 in 2010.

S Premkumar, Chief Exective Officer of (CEO) Apollo Hospitals – a major hospital chain based in Chennai – was quoted in the TOI as claiming that some 300 Maldivian nationals were treated in Chennai hospitals each year. “They usually come for neurosurgery, and orthopaedic, cardiology and robotic gyneacology procedures,” he told the publication.

On December 20, First Secretary of the High Comission S C Agarwal, told local media that the change in procedure was not new, adding that there had only been a change in the “interpretation” of the agreement signed between India and Maldives in 1979.

“The agreement that grants 90 days free visa for Indians and Maldivians came into effect in 1979. But we have been really flexible in the interpretation of the agreement.

“We have not been questioning the purpose of travel of Maldivians to India. But unfortunately the reverse is not true. The Maldivian authorities have enforced the agreement in the strictest of terms. Nearly 50 Indians are denied entry, detained and deported every year,” Agarwal was quoted as saying in newspaper Haveeru.

Agarwal told local media that India has now “agreed” with the interpretation of the 1979 agreement in accordance to that of the Maldives government.

“We have been flexible in implementing the agreement since 1979. Such flexibility has not been reciprocated by Maldives,” he added.

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Chinese companies have discussed Maldives’ satellite slot: former communications minister

Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim met with two Chinese companies interested in launching and operating a satellite designated for the Maldives during a recent visit to China, former Minister of Communication Dr Ahmed Shamheed has claimed.

Shamheed told Minivan News today that the Maldives government was potentially entitled to an “orbital slot” for a satellite from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). However, because the Maldives’ currently lacks the capabilities to launch and operate a satellite, the state would have to lease out the slot to an external party.

Earlier this month (December 12) the Communications Authority of Maldives (CAM) announced that it was looking to find a partner in order to form a venture for the operation of a satellite serving the Maldives.

The announcement was made at the same time that Defence Minister Colonel (Retired) Mohamed Nazim was on an official five-day visit to China, where he signed a military aid agreement with Chinese National Defence Minister General Liang Guanglie.

According to Shamheed, Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim has already been approached by various Chinese companies who have expressed interest in the satellite venture.

“At first, I had been involved in casual meetings with these companies, but now it seems to getting more serious. Nazim had even questioned as to why we have not yet signed an agreement with them,” Shamheed alleged.

Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Orbital slot

The former transport and communications minister said that in his view, the best option would be to lease the “orbital slot” only after the Maldives was officially awarded the space by the ITU.

“Operating a satellite is not an easy thing to do, and [the Maldives] does not have the facilities to do such a thing. The best plan would be to get the slot and then to sell it to whomever we wanted. I don’t understand why we have to agree to anything right now,” Shamheed said.

However, he warned selling the slot to a Chinese company before the ITU had awarded the space to the Maldives could result in “external” influences swaying the decision.

“If we sell the slot right now to a Chinese company there could be problems. We don’t know who influences the ITU or who could be involved behind the scenes, if we sell the slot now it might mean that our orbital slot is revoked,” added Shamheed.

Deputy Transport Minister Ishaq Ahmed told local newspaper Haveeru on Friday (December 21) that two Chinese companies have expressed interest in launching and operating a satellite designated for the Maldives.

However, he added that the government did not wish to sell the slots specifically to Chinese companies , adding there had been no official transactions made so far.

An expert committee will evaluate proposals and select a party, he explained.

“We have not decided to give it to a particular country. I’ve learned that it is a Chinese company does this for [Sri] Lanka now. Therefore it is likely that another Chinese company could be interested in the Maldives. All countries would have an opportunity in this. They should come with the best proposal,” he was quoted as saying.

Ishaq denied the Transport Ministry was planning to sell the slot to a Chinese enterprise.

He explained that obtaining the slot would be up to the chosen party and that the ITU informed the ministry that the process could take two years.

The request for proposal (RFP) was announced with a view to commencing the project soon, he added.

CAM previously announced that the satellite project will be carried out in three phases whereby an orbital slot is to be secured, before manufacturing and launching the satellite itself. The final stage will involve the commercial operation of the satellite.

Local media reported that the CAM had stated the importance of a satellite was increasing “by the day”, following a surge in broadcasters within the country.

The authority stated that spending money on foreign satellite service providers is a financial burden and that its excessive capacity can be utilised commercially to generate money for the country.

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Maldives cabinet marks 80th anniversary

The Maldivian cabinet marked its 80th anniversary yesterday (December 22).

Formed in 1932, the first cabinet portfolios included a total of twelve ministries, including the prime minister’s office, the defence ministry and justice ministry, the President’s Office has said.

In the last 80 years, the Maldives’ cabinet has been led by by Prime Minister Mohamed Fareed, Foreign Minister Hassan Fareed, Prime Minister Mohamed Ameen, Prime Minister Ibrahim Faamdheyri Kilegefaanu, Ibrahim Nasir as Prime Minster and then President, Prime Minister Ahmed Zaki, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President Mohamed Nasheed and President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

According to the President’s Office, notable cabinet figures in the Maldives political history include include Mohamed Amin Didi, who was the youngest ever cabinet minister at 22.

Meanwhile, former President Gayoom was noted as the longest serving cabinet minister,while Moomina Haleem was the first female cabinet minister appointed as Minister of Health on January 6, 1977.

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Male’ could face street light black out over unpaid electricity bill, city mayor claims

The city of Male’ could face its street lights being “switched off” should an outstanding MVR 3.9 million (US$ 254,569) electricity bill fail to be paid by December 27, Male’ City Council (MCC) Mayor ‘Maizan’ Ali Manik has said.

The outstanding payment owed to State Electricity Company Limited (STELCO) by the MCC threatens to leave all council owned properties and utilities –which includes street lights – without power, Manik today claimed (December 22).

Earlier this week, unpaid bills to telecommunication service provider Dhiraagu resulted in the MMC having its telephone and internet services disconnected by the company.

STELCO have since denied claims that they will cut the MCC’s power, but has stated that the company “cannot say what will happen if the bill remains unpaid”.

Speaking to Minivan News, Mayor Manik blamed the Finance Ministry for the lack of payment, claiming that the government body had failed to release the funds despite the MCC completing all relevant documents needed to do so.

“I sent a letter to the [Finance] Ministry last week following one the MCC received from STELCO saying they will cut our electricity if the bill is not paid.

“When I spoke with [Minister of Finance and Treasury] Abdulla Jihad yesterday, he gave me no reason as to why the payments had been delayed. He must have known about the bills because of all the letters we have sent him.

“He told me that both the STELCO and Dhiraagu bills will be paid tomorrow (December 23),” claimed Manik.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad and Economic Development Minister Ahmed Mohamed were not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

MCC “long history” of debt

STELCO Media Co-ordinator Abdulla Nazir meanwhile said that MCC had a “long history” of outstanding payments, adding that the stated figure of MVR 3.9 million was only part of the overall debt owed to the company.

“STELCO has received no money so far. There are many months of outstanding debt from MCC, more than the MVR 3.9 million we have asked for.

“While we have received no statement or payment from the Finance Ministry, we have received a letter from MCC dated December 19. They said their bills have been sent to the Finance Ministry, and they have asked the ministry to settle the outstanding payments,” Nazir told Minivan News.

However, Nazir denied Manik’s claims that STELCO had warned the MCC it faced having electricity disconnected. However, in accordance to STELCO’s regulations, Nazir stated that any public or private organisation failing to pay its electricity bills was at risks of having its power cut off.

Dhiraagu debt

On Thursday (December 20), local media reported that Dhiraagu had disconnected all phone and internet services it provided to the MCC due to unpaid bills.

MCC member Ibrahim Shajau claimed that over MVR 400,000 (US$ 26,109) is owed by the council to Dhiraagu, alleging that the Finance Ministry had failed to release the funds.

“We have sent all relevant documents to Finance Ministry. It’s up to [them] to pay the money. Dhiraagu said that Finance Ministry had not paid the money,” he told Sun Online.

Dhiraagu Marketing and PR Ibrahim Imjad Jaleel told local media that the services were disconnected after advising the council on numerous occasions to pay their bills.

Earlier in October, STELCO disconnected the power supply to state broadcasters Television Maldives (TVM), Voice of Maldives (VOM) as well Male’ City Council over a failure to pay overdue bills.

MCC member Ibrahim Shujau told newspaper Haveeru back in October that the delay in settling the bill was again down to the Finance Minsitry.

STELCO permit dispute

STELCO and MCC clashed earlier this month when the electricity company filed a case with the Civil Court requesting it invalidate MCC’s decision to disallow issuing permits to the company.

In a statement released Wednesday (December 12), the state electricity provider stated that the lawsuit was filed because the MCC had blocked the company from providing some of its services, resulting in disruption for customers in the capital.

The disallowed permits are needed to provide electrical services to properties around the capital.

STELCO has argued that the MCC’s decision lacked any legal grounds and therefore requested the court to decide if the decision was valid or not. It also requested the court invalidate a letter sent to STELCO by the MCC informing it of the decision, so that it could resume its services.

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MACL Managing Director appointed as Transport Minister

President Mohamed Waheed has appointed Mohamed Ibrahim as Minister of State for Transport and Communications after removing him from his Managing Director post at Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL).

Replacing Ibrahim as MD of MACL is Dr Ibrahim Mahfooz, who has served as the Chief Internal Auditor of State Trading Organisation (STO) for the last 16 years.

Mohamed Ibrahim will be taking over from Acting Transport Minister Mohamed Nazim.

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State guarantee for GMR to obtain bank loans had no limits: Attorney General

Attorney General (AG) Azima Shukoor has claimed that a loan guarantee provided by the former government to infrastructure group GMR would have allowed the company to obtain finance without limitation.

According to local media, the attorney general has alleged that such a loan agreement would have contravened the country’s financial regulations unless approved by parliament at the time.

However, her claims have been dismissed by former Attorney General Ahmed Ali Sawad, who claimed that the agreement was conducted within state laws. Sawad helped oversee the agreement between GMR and former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government back in 2010.

GMR’s concession agreement was terminated by the Maldives government late last month after it decided – citing legal advice – that the sovereign contract was invalid from the outset.

Speaking to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee yesterday (December 19), Shukoor revealed that the Maldivian state had agreed under the cancelled contract to act as a guarantor for all loans obtained by GMR under its agreement to develop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

According to the attorney general, this provision had been approved despite not being part of any senior finance agreement.

Shukoor added that under the primary agreement between the state-owned Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) and GMR, should MACL fail to make any repayments, the Maldivian state would have to cover any resulting costs.

“[The state] is not part of the senior agreement, thus to act as guarantor for loans obtained by another group – whether this was done with approval or not – would be to give a ‘blanket’ guarantee. I don’t think this can be permitted. I don’t believe that even the Public Accounts Committee would do that,” local media reported Shukoor as saying.

The agreement, which states that the Maldivian government is responsible for all loans obtained by GMR, was made with the approval of former Attorney General Sawad, Shukoor said.

According to Shukoor, Sawad had permitted the agreement in writing, concluding at the time that the deal would not result in any legal problems.

She also claimed that approving the agreement without parliament’s approval was in violation of the Finance Act.

“Financial guarantees given by the state should have limits. We are signing an agreement allowing future groups to obtain as much money as they want under our guarantee – I don’t believe that this is a valid legal concept,” Shukoor was reported to have said.

Responding to Shukoor’s comments, Sawad today told Minivan News that he “did not believe” there had been a violation of any law whilst he held the position of attorney general.

“I deny her claims, although I’m not actually sure what her claim is. I don’t think she knows what her claim is,” he said.

“She [Shukoor] needs to figure out if it was a guarantee or not a guarantee, because in the meeting she said that it ‘was a guarantee’ and then said that it was like a guarantee’. Regardless of whether or not it was a guarantee, the whole thing is irrelevant as she has stated the GMR contract is void ab initio (invalid from the outset),” Sawad claimed.

GMR’s tender agreement to develop INIA was overseen at the time by legal and financial experts including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – a World Bank entity. The deal also obtained the certified approval of former Attorney General Sawad.

Attorney General Shukoor was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Speaking to the committee yesterday, local media reported Shukoor as stating that Singapore’s Axis bank had permitted GMR to obtain loans worth $386 million, of which GMR had taken $165 million. Shukoor highlighted that should GMR fail to repay this loan, then the government would have been required to meet any resulting costs.

She stated that if the government found itself unable to pay back these loans, the image of the state will be damaged, leading to potential implications for securing future finance.

“When we think about taking legal action in relation to this matter, we see that the head state prosecutor has advised that signing that agreement should not cause any legal problems. So it becomes something the state has to honour,” she added.

Despite the former Attorney General approving the agreement, Shukoor stated that government has a strong legal argument over the loan issue, whereby under the Public Finance Act, the government cannot act as a guarantor without the parliament’s approval, which was allegedly not obtained.

“The State is acting as the guarantor to the loans taken based on the transactions between GMR and Axis Bank. I believe that is not something permitted under the Finance Act. It is like a blanket sovereign guarantee. We may not be able to classify it as a sovereign guarantee. But we are seeing an assurance given by the State,” Shukoor was quoted as saying by local newspaper Haveeru.

GMR bid qualification

Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of GMR Airports Sidharath Kapur today rejected comments made by President’s Office Spokesperson Masood Imad in Indian media alleging that the company did not originally qualify as a bidder to develop INIA in a technical evaluation process.

Masood was quoted in the Business Today publication as claiming that the technical evaluation committee during the bidding process acted under pressure from former President Mohamed Nasheed, who then qualified the GMR Group for the project.

In response, Kapur said that the company had won the project in an “open and transparent” bidding process, stating that GMR had qualified in the technical, financial and legal evaluations.

Kapur noted that the bidding process was supervised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and that the IFC had successfully handled such public-private partnerships in the airport sector in many countries.

“While other bidders opted for the ‘earn and pay’ route, the GMR consortium adopted a ‘pay and earn’ strategy, and hence paid $78 million up front to the Government of Maldives,” he added.

Kapur also attacked the present government’s handling of the GMR issue, alleging that the resulting arbitration case to decide on compensation owed to the company from the contract cancellation could have serious financial ramifications for the nation.

“Compensation believed owed to GMR due to the illegitimate cancellation of the contract by the government of Maldives may put a significant and avoidable financial burden on the people of Maldives,” he stressed to Business Today.

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Tourism Ministry figures show year-on-year drop in November arrivals

Official Tourism Ministry figures have recorded a 3.7 percent drop in arrivals to the Maldives last month when compared to the same period last year.

It is the first time since May 2012 that monthly arrivals to the country have fallen on a year-on-year basis.

Despite the monthly decline, arrival numbers rose by 2.4 percent between January and November when compared to the same period in 2011.

The official figures indicate that as of November 2012, 866,310 tourists have arrived in the country over the last 11 months. By contrast, 845,732 arrivals were recorded visiting the Maldives between January and November in 2011.

Earlier this year, the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) had set a target of attracting one million visitors to the country by the end of 2012.

According to the latest ministry figures, tourist arrivals during November from Britain fell 13.8 percent to 7,164, while Chinese visitors to the country rose 9.2 percent to 18,450 during the same month. China has accounted for 24.7 percent of all tourist arrivals to the country during the year so far.

Visitors from Germany decreased 13.2 percent to 8,729 in November, while Italian arrivals decreased by 35.9 percent to 3,551 during the same month.

Promotion aims

The MMPRC had this year been allocated a budget of MVR 70 million (US$4.5 million) to conduct marketing activities for the year, almost double last year’s budget of US$2.3 million which saw the country receive 900,000 tourist arrivals.

Following February’s controversial transfer of power, the incoming government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan sought to utilise public relations groups and advertising to try and offset the impact of negative news headlines resulting from the controversial nature of the change in government.

This focus has included agreeing on a US$250,000 (MVR3.8million) advertising deal to promote the country’s tourism industry on the BBC through sponsorship of its weather services, as well as signing a £93,000 per month (US$150,000) contract with public relations group Ruder Finn to try and improve the country’s image internationally.

With these focuses in place, Maldives tourism authorities said back in October that they were confident the country could meet its one million visitor target, despite ongoing “political turmoil” in the Maldives over the last year.

Speaking to local media in the same month, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor said that should the Maldives achieve its aims of attracting one million visitors during 2012, it could be effectively seen as being equivalent to welcoming two million arrivals to the country.

Adheeb claimed this statement was made taking into account the challenges in overcoming the impact of “political turmoil” on the country’s reputation following February’s power transfer.

“We are closing in on that target with a lot of challenges. We are working with major obstacles due to the present crisis in the country,” Adheeb was quoted as saying at the time.

Adheeb and Deputy Tourism Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal were not responding to calls by Minivan News at the time of press.

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