Tourism Minister Mohamed Ameen has stated that practical implementation of the Tourism Ministry's regulation to terminate agreements for tourism properties that have remained inactive for more than eight years will begin within the coming week.

Answering a question posed by an individual at the 9th "Ahaa" forum held last night, Minister Ameen stated that there are 161 islands and lagoons in distress or with stalled work in the Maldives. The minister noted that this includes properties where work has been halted for periods ranging between 10 and 25 years.

The minister stated that previous governments failed to take adequate action regarding these issues. Ameen noted that properties are handed over under agreements to be developed and opened within a specific timeframe, and the failure to open these properties results in the state missing out on revenues such as taxes and lease fees.

According to the minister, because construction periods were extended across various terms without terminating the agreements, and land rent owed to the state was rescheduled, a total of between $500 million and $600 million remains uncollected by the state.

Minister Ameen highlighted that this decision made by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu in the public interest is an important step taken to ensure that citizens secure the taxes and employment opportunities that the state ought to receive from islands and lagoons.

The Tourism Ministry gazetted the regulation outlining procedures for dealing with islands, lagoons, and land leased for tourism purposes where work has remained incomplete for extended periods on the 10th of last month. Under this regulation, the termination of agreements for properties that have remained inactive for more than eight years has been included.

Under this regulation, robust procedures have been established regarding the extension of construction periods, granting closures for redevelopment, deferring rent, and repaying deferred rent. Furthermore, the regulation specifies special procedures for dealing with properties that have remained undeveloped for prolonged periods.

The regulation has been formulated to resolve issues by categorizing such inactive properties into four tiers. It provides provisions to give additional opportunities to parties whose work stalled after commencing, while stipulating that agreements for properties with no work done for over eight years will be terminated immediately.