Equator Village staff quarters vacated

Kaimoo has vacated the rooms of Equator Village's staff quarters necessary for building of the road for Addu International Airport (AIA) expansion project.

An AIA official said today that although the rooms have now been vacated, the area has not yet been officially handed over to the company.

Seven rooms from Equator Village's staff quarters need to be vacated to make room for development of the road.

The government and Kaimoo have been in deliberations over the past two years to find an equitable solution for the issue of the staff quarters falling on land needed for the development of this road.

Kaimoo initially proposed for the government to pay USD 25 million as compensation. Discussions were also held on increasing the lease of two other resorts of the company to 50 years.

The government then decided to remove construction of the road from the project due to delays and risk of financial loss if a solution is not found within this month.

However, two years after the discussions initially started, Kaimoo agreed on vacating those rooms after discussions held with current Minister of Tourism and Environment Thoriq Ibrahim.

The AIA expansion project was commenced in June 2023. The project, conducted with USD 30 million (MVR 463 million) through a line of credit from India, was due for completion by March this year. However, the project faced delays due to various reasons, and the deadline was pushed to November this year. The contractor for the project is Renaatus, India.