Nasheed: Addu tourism undeveloped due to lack of govt sincerity

Tourism remained undeveloped in Addu due to lack of sincere effort by the current administration, states Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed.

Nasheed, the leader of the main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), made the comment in a tweet on Sunday afternoon, in which he criticized the development projects inaugurated during President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s ongoing visit to Addu.

He said that Shangri-La's Villingili Resort & Spa, Herethere, and Hankede had failed to takeoff, and that the lack of development of tourism in Addu isn’t due to lack of islands in the city.

“It is because of the lack of sincere effort by the current administration on this front,” he said.

Nasheed said the idea to reclaim land in Addu and re-develop the Gan International Airport comes too late.

Villingili, Herethere adhi Hankede adhives othee rangalhah higainugane. Addu City ge tourism tharaggee nuve ulhenee rah nethigeneh noon. Mi sarukaaruge ikhlaastheri masakkaiy mikamah nukurevigen. Gan airport hingan feshumuge auvisnumeh mivanee maalasvefa.

— Mohamed Nasheed (@MohamedNasheed) June 4, 2023

The mega land reclamation inaugurated by President Solih on Saturday also involves reclaiming land to develop tourist resorts.

According to the government, once the land reclamation project is complete, it will create 7,000 tourist beds in Addu.

Meanwhile, the airport re-development project inaugurated Sunday is designed to increase the Gan International Airport’s capacity to 1.5 million passengers per annum.