Maldives govt. decides to take control of Male airport from Saturday

Maldives govt. decides to take control of Male airport from SaturdayDespite an order from a Singapore court suspend the abolition of infrastructure giant GMR's $511 million Male airport project, the Maldives government has declared its decision to take control of an airport.

Mohamed Nazim, defence minister and acting transport minister, said in a press conference that the government would take over of the airport from Saturday.

GMR, an auxiliary unit of Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure, on Monday announced that it would continue to operate the airport as it won a stay order from a Singapore court on the cancellation of the project.

The contract to upgrade and operate the Male airport was given to GMR in 2010. GMR claims that the two parties had signed the contract for 25 years; thus it would keep operating the airport for the remaining 23 years.

But, the Maldives government has declared that its decision was non-reversible. Maldives President Mohamed Waheed's press secretary Masood Imad said, "The government's decision is very clear. It is non-reversible and non-negotiable. Our decision was based on legal advice we got from our lawyers in UK and Singapore."

India said the Maldives government's move would send a very negative signal to foreign investors as well as the international community.

A legal adjudication over the contract is presently going in the Singapore High Court, but it is unclear whether the case will continue after the Maldives government cancelled the contract.