Yacht Tours refuses to hand over resorts, decides to take the matter to court

Yacht Tours Maldives has said that the notification to hand over Adh. KudarahResort and Ha.Alidhoo Resort to the government was made against policies, and that a case in this regard will be filed to court soon.

The two resorts are operated by Yacht Tours which is owned by Kaashidhoo MP Abdullah Jabir. The government has given the company seven days to hand over the islands following failure to pay rent.

Executive Director of Yacht Tours Ibrahim Rasheed said at a press conference held at the office of Yacht Tours today that lawyers are working on filing the case to court, and that this will be done possibly tomorrow.

Referring to the issue of unpaid rent, he said that the previous government had decided, in order to make it easier for companies to pay rent, that amounts paid in advance for another island leased to the same company can be used to pay rent for resorts and hotels owned by the company. In this regard, the government had been informed to deduct the rent payable from the MVR1.5 million paid for Ga. Vatavahreha, and the previous government had informed Finance Ministry to proceed under this arrangement.

A copy of a letter sent by former Tourism Minister Mariyam Zulfa to Finance Ministry states that a total of $650,209.29 should be deducted for rent from $155,412.50 paid in advance for Ga. Vatavahreha. This includes $11,843.75 from 1 January to 31 March 2011, $69,182.77 from 1 April to 30 June 2011, and $69,182.77 from 1 July to 30 September 2011 as rent for Kudarah; and $25,000 from 1 April to 30 June 2011 and $25,000 from 1 July to 30 September 2011 as rent for Alidhoo.

“We were given a notice by the current ministry or minister, who also said that we had not communicated with the ministry in this regard,without even informing us if the earlier communications were valid– which makes us wonder if a former ministry, minister or even government existed,” Ibrahim said.

Further referring to Tourism Minister Adheeb’s comment that Yacht Tours had not communicated with the ministry, Ibrahim said that discussions in this regard had been held with the ministry by Yacht Tours owner Jabir himself.

Managing Director of Yacht Tours Ibrahim Shiyam said at the press conference that a total of $2 million is owed to the government as rent for Alidhoo and Kudarah; however, the government had claimed that about $5 million is payable as rent by Yacht Tours. He said that this was because the some funds that belong to the company are with the government due to the negligence of the government.

The government informed Yacht Tours on 30 December that due to failure by the company to pay rent and fines after being given the final notice, the licence for the resorts had been revoked; and also notified Yacht Tours to hand over the resorts. The government also said that Yacht Tours had made no attempt to communicate with the ministry to pay the $4 million owed for six quarters.