President: Addu backslid after the British left

The southern city of Addu backslid after the British left, states President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

He made the remark at the ceremony held in Gan on Sunday to inaugurate physical works on the project to upgrade the Gan International Airport.

Speaking at the ceremony, President Solih said that the airport in Gan is 66 years old, and had once been the most strategically important location in the south of the Indian Ocean.

“This was why the British chose Gan [because of its strategic importance]. Back then, the money from the development in Addu reached as far as Bolihuraa in the northern Thuraakunu,” he said.

“But Addu backslid, starting from the day the British left the developed Addu. The modern facilities in Addu were taken, divided, and carried out of Addu.”

President Solih said the development of the Gan International Airport shouldn’t have begun 66 years later.

He noted that once the upgrade of the Gan International Airport is complete, the airport will have the capacity to serve 1.5 million passengers annually.

He thanked India and the country’s EXIM Bank for financing the project.

“This is a revolutionary project, designed to double the country’s economy in 10 years. Addu will get 7,000 tourist beds,” he said.

President Solih said the expansion of tourism will have a positive impact on multiple businesses. He said that developing Addu as an economic hub is crucial to the economic development of the larger Maldives.

He also said that with the cold storage facilities in Gan International Airport and the Addu Fisheries Complex, it will become easier to export yellowfin tuna from Addu and the southern Maldives.

The project to develop the Gan International Airport was contracted to India’s Renaatus on March 5. It is financed with a USD 29.7 million (MVR 455.8 million) loan from India’s EXIM Bank.

The project will see the establishment of a passenger terminal with modern facilities, development of cold storage and cargo facilities, establishment of a fire station, development of a new control tower, development of roads and parking spaces, and development of duty-free shops, lounges and restaurants at the airport.