President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has called on businessmen to give up the habit of reducing the people to poverty.
In an interview with the state broadcaster, Muizzu slammed businesses and announced the government would start an eyewear business through the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).
"I don't care how unhappy the private sector eyewear businesses are. What is important to me is to rid this country of the habit of reducing the people to poverty. That's why I urge cigarette businesses to do something else too," he said.
This is not the first time the president had criticized businesses. In February, he blamed the medicine shortage on the private sector. He also said a person who opens a small pharmacy in an island is able to own boats within a year.
The government has also introduced sudden changes to laws and regulations, forcing some sectors to completely shut down and creating a black market of these products.
