Nizar states the halting of Hankede project is due to flawed government policies

The government halted the S. Hankede development project due to flawed policies, Addu Mayor Ali Nizar stated yesterday.

The government first opened Hankede for development in 2005, 20 years ago. Since then, the governments that came after did announce the project time and time again, only for it to not be implemented throughout.

During the previous government, the Maldives Fund Management Corporation (MFMC) awarded the development of Hankede to China's National Electrical Engineering Company. Once the current government came into power, an announcement was made to develop Hankede in April, with ceremonial fireworks to mark the an announcement. However, the government has since changed their approach to the project.

The Ministry of Tourism announced the the development of certain islands for halal tourism yesterday, with Hankede included.

The Mayor of Addu City said that work on Hankede was stopped due to flawed policies on the part of the government.

He stated that the government's weak foreign policies and lack of close relations with major countries which could provide assistance to Maldives were also parallel factors as to why the project did not proceed as planned.

"The Chinese government's loss of confidence in the government's fiscal policy is one of the biggest reasons for the failure of the Hankede project," he said.

MFMC was then awarded the contract to develop Hankede with a USD 145 million (MVR 2.2 billion) loan from the Bank of China. It was planned to have 1,041 rooms with 2,082 beds.

Although Hankede is now slated for development of halal tourism, no further details have been given beyond that.

Nizar said the 2,000-bed project was canceled and Hankede was converted into a small 50-room hotel because there was no response the government can give to questions raised about the Hankede project when the next election approaches.

"The cancellation of the Hankede project puts a staggering brake on plans set for the economy of Addu. The next most important 'gift' the government is going to give to the people of Addu is to destroy the administrative management of the city, split apart the islands and wipe the name of Addu from existence," he said.