Govt. submits bill to lower resorts’ land rent

Legislature has been submitted to the Parliament to lower the land rent imposed on resorts, a move the government said was designed to mitigate possible financial constraints from the introduction of minimum wage. 

The bill was submitted to the Parliament on behalf of the government by Central Hithadhoo MP Ahmed Rasheed on Wednesday. 

It proposes lowering the land rent of resorts, hotels, yacht marinas, and integrated tourism projects from two zones. 

Ahmed Rasheed said the purpose of the bill was to provide councils the opportunity to rent out land at a fair price, and to amend the law to allow share prices to be set at the best market price that protects the interests of both parties instead of having companies leasing islands under joint ventures sell their shares. 

The atolls have been distributed into two zones. 

The first zone has Th. Atoll, L. Atoll, GA. Atoll, and GDh. Atoll. The government has proposed lowering the land rent for land in the zone smaller than 200,000 square meters to USD 5-USD 750,000 per square meter. The land rent for land larger than 200,000 square meters will remain the same as now. 

The second zone has N. Atoll, R. Atoll, B. Atoll, Lh. Atoll, K. Atoll, AA. Atoll, ADh. Atoll, V. Atoll, M. Atoll, F. Atoll, and Dh. Atoll. The government has proposed lowering the land rent for land in the zone smaller than 200,000 square meters to USD 6-USD 750,000 per square meter. The proposed land rent 200,000-400,000 square meters is USD 1.1 million per year, and the proposed land rent for land larger than 400,000 square meters is USD 1.5 million per year.