The Tourism Ministry has refused to disclose the lease acquisition cost charged to rent out land for the development of resorts or hotels, claiming that it would be detrimental to business interests.
The lease acquisition cost is a fee for transferring leaseholder rights of an island, lagoon or plot of land provided for tourism purposes. The fee must be paid to the Maldivian state in order to sign an agreement for any property. The Tourism Ministry previously disclosed such information.
Successive governments since the final years of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's administration disclosed revenue earned as lease acquisition costs. During the previous government, the Tourism Ministry disclosed acquisition costs paid for four islands awarded during a first round as well as the acquisition costs proposed for six islands that were awarded later.
However, when Adhadhu sought information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act about land leased for tourism purposes by the previous government, the Tourism Ministry said in its response that the information could not be shared, citing Article 25 of the law.
"As information about the lease acquisition cost paid by the leaseholder to the state is such that it would have a detrimental impact on the business or financial interest of a third party, under article 25(2) of law number 2014/1 (right to information law), we inform you that we do not believe this information could be shared," the Tourism Ministry's reply stated.
When Adhadhu sought a review by the appeals committee, the committee also upheld the ministry's decision. Adhadhu has since asked the Information Commissioner's Office to disclose the figures.
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The Tourism Ministry's refusal to disclose the information comes with some of the islands or lagoons in question leased under cross-subsidy rules.
A formula for calculating the lease acquisition cost in such cases was determined in the regulations. Different rates were set in the formula as the minimum amount that could be charged as lease acquisition costs for lagoons, reclaimed land and islands in different atolls.
Additionally, as noted before, the Tourism Ministry previously disclosed the lease acquisition costs earned for some of the islands included in a published list. But the ministry did not disclose the revenue earned for any of these islands in its RTI response.
