A letter has been sent to the company of the businessman and Meedhoo MP, Ahmed Siyam Mohamed, to seize Noonu Minaavaru agricultural island.
The letter from the Agriculture Ministry gave the company 14 days to vacate the island for allegedly not working as per the agreement.
A source told Adhadhu that a team from the ministry visited the island last week to conduct an assessment.
After the assessment, the team concluded that the agricultural work was being done in accordance with the agreement.
There are eight years left in the lease agreement made with the company of the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) leader.
MDA's Vice President, Mohamed Abbas, posted on X that the agreement was cancelled without compensation. He criticised the government and the President.
This is the second island recently seized from the tourism tycoon. Dhaalu Uhdhoo was seized in February and designated a picnic island for the people of Dhaalu Meedhoo. Uhdhoo was also an agricultural island.
Minaavaru is located near two of Siyam's resorts - Siyam World and Sun Siyam Irufushi. Most of the produce grown in Minaavaru is supplied to the two resorts.
The government's decision comes amid President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's announcement that MDA is no longer part of the ruling coalition.
At a press conference on May 3, Muizzu said the People's National Congress (PNC) is the only party in the ruling coalition.
Muizzu also denied taking MVR 40 million from Siyam for the presidential election campaign.
"That's not correct at all. I don't think Siyam would say such a thing," he said.
In the first round of the presidential election in 2023, MDA supported the reelection of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). But in the runoff round, MDA switched sides and backed PNC.
Some government positions were allocated to the MDA after the coalition was formed. MDA members still hold some of these positions.
