Court stops government from taking Kihaadhuffaru resort

Civil Court has issued an interim order after annulling  Kihaa Maldives Resort agreement in  B. Kihaadhuffaru stating no steps are to be taken regarding the government notice in taking it back.

The rental agreement given to Athama Marine International was annulled, with the Tourism Ministry stating the resort was not being run in accordance with the Tourism Act or the ministry’s standards. 

Even though the company’s temporary license to operate expired on 27th September last year and had not been renewed, a notice was on 9th October issued to retrieve the resort as they did not proceed in good faith.

The ministry's notice states that one week after the notice is issued on 9th October, they will view the agreement as annulled. However, Athama Marine International said that the notice was sent in violation of the agreement.

Athama said the resort had closed in order to bring about changes as per the notice. Nevertheless, the company said that the ministry decided to annul the agreement against regulations while the resort was bringing about the changes.

With that, Athama requested the Civil Court for an interim order before charges are filed so that a stay order can be implemented. The court order in relation to this was released last Thursday, stating that a stay in abiding by the order, with no steps to be taken in enforcing the notice. The order also stated that no third party rights are to be brought about in relation to Kihaadhuffaru.

As per the order, Athama is to file charges within 14 days to the court.

The government had stated in August that action will be taken due to the resort not being run in accordance with the Tourism Act or the Tourism Ministry’s standards.

The government worked to obtain Kihaadhuffaru before that as well. At the time, the Civil Court and Criminal Court had sentenced the company that was running the resort to vacate the premises and pay a fine of USD 1.4 million in rent and penalties. However, the Supreme Court issued a stay of enforcement of the sentence.