The Shangri-La Villingili resort located in Addu City can be brought into operation by giving up the government's share in the company, and the state is willing if the people of Addu City wish so, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said.
Speaking at a campaign rally held in Addu City, Solih said while Shangri-La earlier operated in a joint venture with the government, previous administrations had not looked into upkeep of the resort. When the state tried to reopen the resort after it had discontinued operations, it was discovered that the place was incurring millions of dollars in losses each year.
He said that such a joint venture cannot be fruitful with government stakes involved. Therefore, necessary changes to the law have been made to reopen Shangri-La, he said.
The President said the only solution now is to cut the company’s losses and leave Shangri-La.
“If the people of Addu City wish so, we are here to give up the government’s stake and find a way to make the resort operational,” he said.
He said the next step would be to find those who were negligent in the resort's operations. Therefore, if the people of Addu City want, the government should release the shares of Shangri-La Villingili and take necessary actions against the negligent people, the President said.
The Maldives government holds 30 percent stakes in the Shangri-La Villingili, which has been shut down for a long period of time due to the Covid pandemic. The Tourism Act was amended to allow Addu Investments Pvt Ltd to buy the state's shares.
Sign In