‘We are looking at every option, including legal’

What is the current status of the airport project after the Maldives government has served notice for termination of contract?

We have been given seven days time to hand over the airport. Naturally time is short so we are already moving for all legal recourse on the issue including at the arbitration tribunal at Singapore. The Maldives government has incorrectly decided to terminate a validly entered contract. The contract for the airport was entered into under the supervision of the IFC, a World Bank affiliate in 2010. The Attorney General of Maldives too had opined that this is a legally correct contract. No one including our competitors had objected to the contract. The contract builds in heavy compensation charges against cancellation which possibly the (Maldives) government does not realise. But we will come to that after all other options are explored.

What are the reasons because of which President Waheed’s cabinet served notice for termination?

The developments about the airport have all obviously happened after the change of regime in Maldives. It is most unfortunate that it has developed so much of political nuances. The breach of a sovereign guarantee has sent shock waves within the investor community. The development is also extraordinary as the issue about the airport development charges, which has been given as the reason for

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