Attorney General Ahmed Usham has stated that agreements made with companies will be terminated if work is not progressing on islands leased for various purposes. The Attorney General said this while answering a question during the Ministers’ Ask Forum. During the Ask Forum, someone raised a question about Sun Travels company being leased N. Meenawaru and Udhdhoo, and then having the agreement for one island terminated and the agreement for the other island not renewed.
Responding to that question, Attorney General Ahmed Usham said that N. Meenawaru and Udhdhoo were leased based on a specific proposal submitted, with an agreement drawn up for specific work to be carried out. He also said that surveys conducted by the government showed that adequate work as per the agreement was not being carried out on these islands.
Therefore, Usham said that since Udhdhoo was an island leased for 25 years, it was decided not to renew the agreement when the lease period expired. He also said that for Meenawaru, as work was not progressing according to the agreement, all procedures in the agreement were completed, notice was given, and then the agreement was terminated. The Attorney General said that not just these two islands, but there are other islands and lagoons where work is not progressing according to agreements. He added that after reviewing these agreements, agreements for islands and lagoons where work is not progressing will be terminated, and that the work of reviewing agreements is currently ongoing.
“We are working on reclaiming islands that are being misused by the government. Islands have not been leased only for agricultural purposes. There are lagoons and islands leased for tourism purposes. Among these too, there are many places where work is not progressing,” said the Attorney General. N. Meenawaru was leased to Sun Travels on February 6, 2010. The island was leased for agriculture and value-added processing work, or to produce and market value-added products. The government has noted that despite repeated instructions to correct issues that were being carried out in violation of the agreement on that island, they have not been corrected.
In addition, Dh. Udhdhoo was leased for commercial purposes. When the agreement period for that island expired and the island reverted to the government, the government has decided to make it an island for the people of Dh. Atoll to travel to.
