Pres. Yameen: Internet prices would be lower, if election was won

Former President Abdulla Yameen who lost the last presidential election has stated that if he had been elected, the internet prices of the country would not be reduced.

One of the pledges most popular with the public of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s was to slash the prices of internet services in the country. However, frustrations are slowly growing amongst the public who have not seen any action by the Government and the Ministry of Technology to fulfill this pledge.

Former President Yameen was speaking at a rally in K. Thulusdhoo when he announced that a plan to reduce the internet service prices of the country by 33 percent had been formulated for the early days of his second term if he had been elected.

“We had the chance to do that and if we could have done that, internet services in the country would be faster, and the cost of the services would be reduced by one third at least.” Said Yameen. The former President had pledged to reduce internet services by establishing a submarine cable in the country. 

The former President also took a jibe at the government when he stated that all the government could do in response to the internet services issue was to say “coming, coming, it's coming”. He also accused that the issue of the internet services was unsolved not because of the fault of just the Minister in charge, but the whole government.

It should also be noted that a plan to fulfill the pledge of reducing the internet services prices of the country was not included in the Strategic Action Plan formulated and unveiled recently for the remainder of the government’s term in office. This was also confirmed by Communication, Science and Technology Minister Maleeh Jamaal. 

Maleeh sp[oke to “Sun” last night regarding the matter and stated that actions were included in the SAP for improving the internet services of the country on a wide scale that would eventually lead to a reduction of prices. The Minister also stated that everything that should be done to fulfill the pledge has been finalized and sent to the government by the Ministry and that it was now up to the government to decide on the matter