As the last leg of the tour to Raa Atoll, President Mohamed Nasheed has this afternoon visited Fainu. This is the first time a president has visited the island in 28 years.
Speaking to the people of the island, the President said he wanted to experience the hardships people in the islands go through in their daily lives and underscored that he did not wish to rule the country only from his office in Malé.
Listing the government’s programmes for the development of the island, the President revealed that the construction of the island’s harbour was now contracted to a third party and was expected to be complete by the end of the year.
Responding to the people’s request to facilitate a better utilization of the island’s spare land, the President said maximising the economic benefit of the land was linked to the government’s pledge to establish a transport network.
He also stressed that the aim of the government’s policy to open up the Maldives tourism industry for mid market tourism was to facilitate better utilization of land of bigger islands such as Fainu.
President Nasheed has returned to Malè this evening, after completing his tour of Raa Atoll that he began Friday morning.