Tourism Ministry defends under fire Minister

The Tourism Ministry has issued a statement defending Minister Ali Waheed who was subjected to intense criticism following comments made regarding the service charges provided by resorts of the tourism industry to its employees.

The Minister came under fire for saying that proper service charges were given by resorts to its employees in a news conference. After intense criticism, the Ministry issued a statement clarifying that the Minister’s comments were regarding only large-scale key investors in the country and did not say that the service charge amounts were properly given or not given by all resorts, collectively.

The Ministry also stated that the Minister’s words regarding the Ministry having the service charge rates of most resorts were also not an indication that the Minister was satisfied or content with the standards.

“Our inspection showed us that parity levels in most resorts in the country are maintained.” Minister Waheed had stated in the news. This statement was also translated by the Ministry which stated that the word “parity” was used to mean the proportion or percentage of resort employees.

The Minister had tweeted attributing the intense criticism against him to misleading reports. He also vowed that the Ministry would work to uphold the rights of everyone in the industry.