The government on Tuesday unveiled the list of islands being leased for fisheries and agricultural purposes.
The statement released by Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture states that a total of 77 islands were leased for activities related to fishing and agriculture. Out of these 77 islands, 50 islands were leased for agricultural purposes only, while 15 islands were leased exclusively for activities related to fishing. In addition to this, 8 islands were leased for both fishing and agricultural projects. Furthermore, 3 islands were leased for research studies and 1 island was leased for oyster cultivation.
Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture released a statement regarding the islands that were leased for tourism purposes prior to releasing the list of islands being leased for fisheries and agriculture.
Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail announced last week that, as of now, Ministry of Economic Development will oversee all the information about Maldivian islands and the activities carried out in these islands. In the past, this information was supervised by Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture.
Ministry of Tourism is still responsible for carrying out any bidding procedures for islands to be leased for resort development, even though Economic Ministry is in charge of overseeing the islands in general. Similarly, leasing islands for fisheries and agriculture will be carried out by Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture.
Maldives consists of approximately 1,200 coral islands, out of which 186 are inhabited by locals. Resort development is currently in progress on 133 islands in addition to the 140 previously established resorts.
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