Vandals smash windows, attempt to torch Magoodhoo airport site

As-yet-unknown vandals on Sunday night smashed the windows of the fire building at the airport being developed in F. Magoodhoo and attempted to set the building on fire.

A police spokesperson said the incident was reported to the authorities at 07:47 am Monday by the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC), the contractor of the airport development project.

Preliminary investigative findings show that in addition to vandalizing the property, attempts were also made to start a fire, added the spokesperson.

The incident is under further investigation by the police.

Magoodhoo councilman Abdul Hameed Moosa told Sun that the fire building is located inside the airport site, in an area that members of the public do not usually frequent.

Hameed said the act of vandalism was discovered in the morning, but that there are no suspects at this point.

“The police are taking information of people who were in the area at the time,” he said.

The MVR 231 million project to develop an airport in Magoodhoo was contracted to MTCC on October 19, 2022.

The airport was to have a 1,500-meter-long runway, an additional parking area for jets, a VIP terminal, a fuel farm, and a hotel for crew.

According to the terms of the contract, MTCC was to complete the project in 550 days.

However, the delay in the completion of the project has sparked protests in Magoodhoo, and is now the subject of an inquiry by the Parliament’s State-owned Enterprises Committee.

When questioned by a parliamentarian, Housing Minister Dr. Abdulla Muthalib recently said the airport would open before the end of the current presidential term.