Handhufushi staff holds protests over job cuts

miadhu
In the days following the parliamentary election, some 170 jobs has been axed from Handhufushi Resort at Herathera of Addu atoll and more are to be expected, according to information received to Miadhu Daily.

The lay offs and subsequent difficulties and frustrations have sparked off demonstrations with over 250 staffs participating. A department head participating in the protests said despite the demonstrations the 40 or so tourists at the resort will not face any difficulty. He said the demonstrations will continue till an amicable solution is reached.

He further revealed that he had not received his salary for the last 3 months and that it was not only the Maldivians who are taking part in the demonstrations but foreign staffs are joining as well.

He said the demonstrations commenced yesterday as more jobs cuts were to be announced and that yesterday over 40 jobs including some department heads were to be sent home. However, job cuts were not announced due to the demonstrations.

Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) after developing the Herathera Resort, now renamed as Handhufushi Resort, has subleased it to Yacht Tours.

Yacht Tours and MTDC have been involved in a series of court cases over the past five months following non-payment of rent. Yacht Tours has withheld rent since December 2008, claiming that MTDC failed to honor contractual obligations to dredge a channel between Herathera Island and Hulhudhoo.

Following non payment of rent, MTDC terminated its contract with Yacht Tours and gave the company seven days to hand over the resort; Yacht Tours responded by suing MTDC for US$47 million for losses.

The Civil Court in early April ordered Yacht Tours to pay the outstanding rent of around US$8 million to MTDC.

However, a second court order instructed Habib Bank, which is holding the US$10 million bank guarantee given by Yacht Tours during the bidding process, to withhold the guarantee until further notice.

The global economic down turn has affected Maldives tourism industry with almost 9 percent decline in tourist arrivals in April when compared to same period last year.