Citing rising global oil prices, the State Trading Organisation hiked fuel prices for the fourth time this year. The price of petrol increased from MVR14.60 per litre to MVR16.55 (US$1.07) per litre and the price of diesel from MVRR14.80 per litre to MVR16.77 per litre.
The ‘Maldives Floating City,’ a 5,000-house development by Dutch Docklands in a lagoon near the capital, was changed to an integrated tourism project upon advice from the government’s economic council.
A “million dollar alternating payment fee” was paid and an agreement was signed between the tourism ministry and Dutch Dockland Maldives, a joint venture formed between the government and the Netherlands developer.
“A first block of floating homes is under construction by [local resort construction company] Bison and is due to be transported to the Lagoon and opened in August after the school holidays. This will enable the public to visit and see first hand how the homes will look like,” according to the company.
“The marine engineering, technical details and specifications for the Maldives Floating City development have been completed, and construction will begin immediately after remaining government approvals have been granted. The modular city construction is accordingly scheduled for January 2023 and will take 4 to 5 years to complete.”
The housing units are to be tethered to the lagoon floor and linked together.
The project drew international media attention over the past week with coverage from CNN, USA Today, Business Insider and several other outlets.
The Supreme Court ruled that minority shareholders can sue in circumstances where the majority shareholders’ decisions are detrimental to the company. The apex court established the precedent as the company law does not specify the legal processes for such cases.
The judgment came in a lawsuit filed filed by a director of Blue Lagoon Investment after the two majority directors mortgaged the Madoogali resort’s head lease for a US$3.7 million loan.
The government signed a €18.4 million concessional loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to establish “a modern national health laboratory and expand regional hospitals on atolls with infectious disease wards.”
The Vinares flats built by China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) in Hulhumalé was handed over to the Housing Development Corporation.
Some 1,344 flats were built in ten 13-storey towers under the US$163 million project.
The price of the three-bedroom Vinares apartments reportedly range from MVR4.9 million (US$317,769) to MVR6 million with MVR19,000 to MVR23,000 monthly payments over 20 to 25 years. Both the HDC and planning ministry defended the prices in the face of criticism.
The Chinese developer previously built 1,704 flats in the reclaimed manmade island in two projects since 2009.
The finance ministry instructed government offices to freeze hiring and promotions as well as the creation of new posts and allowances. The move to control expenditures comes in light of rising oil and commodity prices and the risk of a global economic downturn. Other cost-cutting measures include limiting overtime work and overseas training courses and deferring non-essential repair or construction work. The finance ministry’s approval will be required for expenses above MVR5,000 (US$324).
