The Ministry of Tourism has stated that the lease acquisition costs of properties leased by the government, including islands and lagoons allocated for resort development, cannot be disclosed.
In response to a Right to Information (RTI) request filed by Adhadhu under the Right to Information Act, the Ministry of Tourism revealed that since the current government took office on November 18 last year, 16 sites have been allocated for tourism purposes. All these sites were leased this year.
While the ministry shared details about the lease dates, leaseholders, and associated businesses, it cited the "non-disclosure and circumvention" clause in the lease agreements as the reason for withholding lease acquisition costs.
Although the Ministry of Tourism declined to disclose current lease acquisition costs, such information has been made public in the past. In cases where the costs were not immediately disclosed, the data became available through later reports and official documents. Additionally, the minimum lease acquisition cost is typically included in public announcements for leasing tourism properties.
The formula for calculating lease acquisition costs is outlined in the regulation on "Submission of Proposals for Leasing of Islands, Land, and Lagoons for Tourism Purposes," established under the Tourism Act.
A comparison of public announcements made by the Ministry of Tourism and the list of recently leased properties reveals discrepancies. Many leased properties do not appear in the ministry's announced lists or in the list of properties allocated for projects under the cross-subsidy scheme.
While the Tourism Act does not prohibit leasing unannounced properties, such properties must be officially designated for tourism purposes under the President's special authority. An RTI request has been submitted to the President's Office from Adhadhu to verify whether these designations were made in accordance with the law.
Although the Ministry of Tourism has not disclosed the lease acquisition costs, they can be estimated using monthly revenue reports from the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA). According to MIRA reports, land acquisition and conversion fees reached USD 23.5 million (MVR 360.6 million) as of November.
Most of this revenue was generated between October and November, coinciding with the leasing of most islands and lagoons. However, the reported income also includes land acquisition and conversion fees and cannot be directly attributed to the sale of islands and lagoons.
The 16 properties leased for resort development include seven islands and nine lagoons. One of these lagoons, Maavaru Falhu, was leased to a Dubai-based company for an integrated tourism project. The majority of the leased sites are located in Kaafu Atoll, which already has the highest number of resorts in the country.
