Gasim Ibrahim, the owner of Villa Company and Member of Parliament for Maamigili constituency, has stated that former President Yameen Abdul Gayoom is lying by misrepresenting how the Kaadedhdhoo Airport situation unfolded.
During a PNF rally last night, Yameen spoke about Gasim, claiming that Kaadedhdhoo Airport is written as an inheritance for Gasim. He also said that whoever comes to power, the airport is handed over to Villa Company at Gasim’s request.
“The last scene we see is that after trying and failing to operate the airport, the government had to take it over. The government took the airport after forgiving the 30 million dollars in tax money that Gasim owed to the state,” Yameen said.
Responding to Yameen on X, Gasim said that Yameen is lying. He added that Maldivians won’t believe the false stories Yameen is spreading by misrepresenting how the Kaadedhdhoo Airport situation unfolded.
Along with the post, Gasim shared a letter from the President’s Office. He said that reading the letter would clarify how much money was involved and that the airport wasn’t taken over because it couldn’t be operated.
“The airport was given to Villa in response to our proposal following the government’s announcement to privatize Kaadedhdhoo Airport, because it would have been too costly for the government. That’s not how uninhabited islands are leased, is it? Considering the significant losses from operating the airport and the large investment Villa made, the government decided to give 18 million dollars as compensation,” Gasim said.
However, Gasim said that they handed over the airport to the government because the government wante government wanted to develop it, and Villa couldn’t invest more in it quickly. He added that the government took it over knowing the amount of money that could be earned by making it an international airport.
