MALE, March 31 (HNS) – The Tourism Ministry has renewed the agreement made with Abdu Rauf of Maafannu Snow Rose, to develop a resort in Hudhufushi in the Lhaviyani atoll, and granted a 12-year delay to begin paying the US$85 million (Rf1.09 billion) debt to the state.

The Tourism Ministry renewed the agreement after filing a court case after the lessee failed to develop the resort and pay rent from July 1, 2002.

Haveeru requested the ministry to provide details of the agreement renewal, but failed to get additional details of the ministry’s decision, apart from an official confirming the matter.

Reliable sources, however, confirmed to Haveeru that Rauf was given four years to complete the development of the resort in two phases – two years given to complete the first phase, which includes 75 rooms. The lessee has to begin paying the rent of the resort after the two years.

The new agreement states that the pending rent and fine, which amounts up to some Rf1 billion, should be paid starting from the 11th year that the rent should be paid.

Haveeru understands that the ministry also delayed the rent of the first two years, an additional three months, and an additional two years.

The agreement states that it would be terminated if the lessee fails to pay two payments of US$750,000 (a total of US$1.5 million) before June 1 and December 1 of this year.

The ministry reportedly granted a delay to pay US$3 million out of the rent of four years and an additional three months until March 27, 2015, and an option to pay the amount within a four-year period.

Haveeru also learnt that the Tourism Ministry took the decision as the ministry saw that it could not win the court case.

Rf976.6 million, out of the Rf1.09 billion debt, is the fine for the lessee’s failure to pay the rent – the highest single amount of debt out of the Rf1.5 billion, according to the government’s figures.

and please try to help to save the unique Island of Hudhufushi, it may be future one of the biggest islnad in Maldives.

May Allah Bless to save the Island of Hudhufushi in my Atoll

You may not seen like this kind of islands in Maldives, but we have seen such as like Kanuhura before it was lot of turtles are coming for laying eggs, and i have seen by my eyes that the turtles gone water, but that was my childhood time, but now my heart was crying for that place, and now Kanuhura is tourist resort. how sad it. all the turtles lost their own home. now there are no more turtles coming to lay the egg, they are afraid of that.

Than why the goverment talking about the enviroment protuct or the save the turtles.

I realy hate about this nature to selling for small amount of dollars,

I wish and pray for hudhufushi will noy happen for that. may allah save the hudhufushi and our atoll toooo…………………………………

We have forgotten what enticed tourists from all around the world to visit these islands, we have lost our simplicity. The government promotes ‘sustainability’ from the one hand and allocates a dozen islands for tourism development without taking into consideration our lack of infrastructure, manpower and transportation development.

The dire state of the tourism industry is yet to surface. In addition to the threat to the environment, we need to seriously think about preserving our culture, which plays an equally important role in our heritage.