Male: In the 1960s, Maldives was not the tourist hotspot it is today. Fishing was the main occupation. Every week, a Ceylonese (as Sri Lankans were then termed) carrier operated a flight to and from Colombo with dried fish export from the islands. One day, old timers said, Sri Lanka stopped this service, citing poor landing conditions in the aerodrome, a British-era relic with a runway of steel plates.
The move hurt President Ibrahim Nasir and the Maldivians deeply and they took it as a challenge. “It is legendary,” says Moosa Latheef, editor of Haveeru, the most circulated newspaper in the archipelago’s capital here. “The president called the people to come together to build the airport. People not only contributed money from whatever little they earned, they took boulders from the sea with bare hands. They brought sand on dhonis (boats),”he adds, describing the birth of the airport on Hulhule island, a 10-minute ferry ride from here.
Many Maldivians opposed to the agreement with GMR assert this history and emotional attachment are not the primary reasons they oppose the deal. “The agreement had many flaws,” said Abdullah Humaid, a leader of the Adhaalat Party, perceived to be a radical right-wing party. Adhaalat’s chief, Sheikh Imran, has been spearheading the “Go home, GMR” campaign in the neatly-laid and narrow magus (roads) of Male.
10/12/12 N Sundaresha Subramanian/Business Standard
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The move hurt President Ibrahim Nasir and the Maldivians deeply and they took it as a challenge. “It is legendary,” says Moosa Latheef, editor of Haveeru, the most circulated newspaper in the archipelago’s capital here. “The president called the people to come together to build the airport. People not only contributed money from whatever little they earned, they took boulders from the sea with bare hands. They brought sand on dhonis (boats),”he adds, describing the birth of the airport on Hulhule island, a 10-minute ferry ride from here.
Many Maldivians opposed to the agreement with GMR assert this history and emotional attachment are not the primary reasons they oppose the deal. “The agreement had many flaws,” said Abdullah Humaid, a leader of the Adhaalat Party, perceived to be a radical right-wing party. Adhaalat’s chief, Sheikh Imran, has been spearheading the “Go home, GMR” campaign in the neatly-laid and narrow magus (roads) of Male.
10/12/12 N Sundaresha Subramanian/Business Standard
