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H. Alif Berimmadhoo (200 beds) 7 Bidders

Only 7 Bidders submitted bids on 9th Oct 2007.
Total number of bids sold: 11

Highest Bidder: Ahmed Ibrahim Didi, Ma. Niyaz Villa

Advance payment: US Dollars 5 million
Plus US $ 2.5 million in 4 installments (duration of advance payment unannounced)

Average rent per bed per annun for the first 10 years: US$ 7,387.00

Point allocation: Rent 45%; Staff localisation: 35%; Health insurance: 20%

The government has mentioned on many occasions that the previous bidding system was revised to ensure that the wider community could participate in resort bidding and could have the opporutnity to enter the tourism industry as a resort operator. Isnt it an irony that only 7 submitted bids for this island. I wonder how many ordinary Maldivians can pay US$ 5 million in advance?

Ministy of Tourism used to get atleast 20 to 30 bids per island whenever new islands are open for tender. But the low level of interest from the public is a clear signal that public have lost faith in the system.

Furthermore, the rent of this island is almost half of the rent proposed for islands leased under the previous ministership. How can one explain this? Are we sacrificing millions for an advance payment of US$ 5 million? Is this fair?

How many millions of dollars are we loosing due to changes brought to the previous bidding system by the current administration at MoTCA?

The recent developments in the tourism industry clearly shows that the tourism administration in this country is in utter chaos!

This post was written by: Franklin Manuel

Franklin Manuel is a professional blogger, web designer and front end web developer. Follow him on Twitter