Hajj Corporation cancels city hotel announcement

The Hajj Corporation has canceled an earlier announcement for the construction of a city hotel in K. Maafushi due to insufficient response.

The corporation's Managing Director, Mohamed Shakeel, stated that although at least three bidders had applied, the contractor finance arrangement for the city hotel was not well-received, leading to the cancellation.

Consequently, a second announcement has been made, with the deadline for bid registration set for next Tuesday. The project is open to foreign bidders and will be managed under Maafushi Islamic Tourism Pvt Ltd (MIT), a subsidiary of the Hajj Corporation.

According to the business portal, MIT was registered in October last year, and its Managing Director is Mohamed Shihaab, who is also the Deputy Managing Director of the Hajj Corporation. MIT's directors include Hajj Corporation Managing Director Shakeel and other senior officials of the Hajj company.

A non-refundable registration fee of MVR 30,000 or USD 2,000 must be paid by Tuesday. The bids will be opened on the 13th of next month.

Shakeel confirmed that a 242-room hotel would be built in Maafushi, which will include a pool and all services typically available in guest houses.

The Hajj Corporation has announced the launch of Islamic tourism in Maafushi for the second time; however, Minister Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has refused to get involved in the business.

Minister Shaheem told Miharu that the Hajj Corporation has not held any discussions with the ministry regarding the construction of a city hotel and entering the tourism business. He asserted that the Hajj Corporation should have ways to manage its fund without getting involved in risky activities.

Shakeel had previously noted the high expenditure for pilgrims, stating that each pilgrim spends "lakhs of rufiyaa," though the service is currently charged at MVR 69,000. He said the company's budget would spend an additional MVR 30 million on all the remaining expenses.

Therefore, the Hajj Corporation has decided to launch an affordable housing project to make the company profitable. The design of this building was awarded to the government's FDC in September last year.