Maldivian suspended flights to the Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana due to low passenger traffic predicted during Ramadan. The national carrier operated the first flight to CIAR – located in a suburb of the Sri Lankan capital – on Sunday. Scheduled flights are expected to resume in May after the fasting month.
Maldives Ports Limited launched a digital portal for automated and simplified cargo clearance through apps and online platforms. The digitalisation of services would reduce the time spent in seeking permits for clearance from six hours to 15 minutes, according to MPL, which aims to become 99% paperless by 2023.
The State Electric Company relaunched its mobile application and online payments after a ransomware attack took down the services for a week. But some households were unable to pay as their bills were not updated. STELCO said it was in the process of entering last month’s bills.
In-person services from counters at its main office also ceased after the attack on 24 March. But the hackers have not demanded payment to release data, officials told the media.
Indian low-cost airline GoAir has not stopped operating in the Maldives, the foreign ministry assured after several flights were cancelled. The cancellations were due to India reopening borders and dissolving an air travel bubble formed with the Maldives during 2020. GoAir flights will resume under new schedules with normalised civil aviation rules, the ministry explained.
The tourism ministry slashed the fee for transferring leaseholder rights of resorts and hotels under development from US$100,000 to US$10,000. The fee for the sale or lease transfer of an operational resort was also reduced to US$50,000. The new regulations also allow the sublease or management agreements of separate islands in the same lagoon.
83 resort development projects remain stalled, mainly due to financing constraints.
The Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company launched two new canned tuna products under its popular ‘Hot Pack’ line: tuna belly in olive oil and tuna chunks in oil with spicy lemon.
Speaking at the launch, MIFCO CEO Ismail Fauzy said production cost has increased by 40% due to global oil price hikes. But the company will not raise prices until the end of Ramadan, he assured.
