Lessening the burden for resorts that have failed to pay rent will not result in losses: Jihad

Finance Minister Abdullah Jihad has said that lessening the burden for resorts that have failed to pay rent, by allowing them to make those payments in instalments, will not result in losses for the government; and that this would in fact be beneficial for the government.

In an interview to Sun Online last week, Jihad said that 12 resorts had not made the due rent payments to the government when the present government came to power. He said that these amounts were indicated in the state financial statements as receivables, but they remained as receivables at the end of every year when the books are closed.

“No work was done back then to collect this money. Every year it was stated that the money will be received. But every year came to an end, and the money was not received. The 12 resorts that had not paid rent have been notified by the government when they paid part of the rent, that they can pay the remaining part in instalments. This will not result in losses for the government,” he said.

He said that this relief policy would facilitate the collection of a large amount of money by the state, and that the important thing is that the money is collected, and not the method employed to do so.

Tourism Minister warned the resorts that had failed to pay rent that the islands will be taken over by the government, and established policies to lessen the burden for them after they settled some portion of the rent payable.

Resorts that had failed to pay rent include Alidhoo and Kudarah resorts operated by Yacht Tours owned by Kaashidhoo MP Abdullah Jabir, Filitheyo Resort operated by the family of Bilaiydhoo MP Ahmed Hamza, Medhufushi Resort and Zitahli Resort.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb said earlier that taking the matter of failure to pay rent by resorts to court will not solve the problem. He said that the best way to go about it would be to warn them and to hold discussions to find solutions.

Tourism Ministry has decided to allow resorts that have paid rent for one quarter, to make the remaining payments in instalments over a period of ten months.