Maldives: The GMR colours of blue, yellow and orange are prominent on the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport trollies and some flex banners that promise a “better airport in 2014.” That promise will obviously remain unfulfilled, as GMR Male International Airport Ltd announced on Friday that it would begin the process of handing over the airport to Maldives Airport Company Ltd at midnight tonight.
Agency reports said GMR Group Chairman G M Rao met the Maldives President on Friday and had a cordial meeting, and the state-run Maldivian company had agreed to retain all staff on the same terms as before and promised to employ Indian nationals hired by GMR.
The decision, GMR said, was in deference to the orders of the Singapore Court of Appeals and was without prejudice to its legal rights. “We are taking requisite steps to work out the compensation receivable from the Maldives government,” the statement said.
It’s obvious that GMR had seen the writing on the wall soon after the court order. A group of senior GMR officials and lawyers, who arrived here by a Bangalore flight full of honeymoon couples, tried their best to hide the disappointment and refused to give anything away. But some of GMR’s employees at the airport still retained a sense of humour. “The marriage seems irretrievable – only the alimony needs to be figured out,” one of them said.
08/12/12 N Sundaresha Subramanian/Business Standard
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Agency reports said GMR Group Chairman G M Rao met the Maldives President on Friday and had a cordial meeting, and the state-run Maldivian company had agreed to retain all staff on the same terms as before and promised to employ Indian nationals hired by GMR.
The decision, GMR said, was in deference to the orders of the Singapore Court of Appeals and was without prejudice to its legal rights. “We are taking requisite steps to work out the compensation receivable from the Maldives government,” the statement said.
It’s obvious that GMR had seen the writing on the wall soon after the court order. A group of senior GMR officials and lawyers, who arrived here by a Bangalore flight full of honeymoon couples, tried their best to hide the disappointment and refused to give anything away. But some of GMR’s employees at the airport still retained a sense of humour. “The marriage seems irretrievable – only the alimony needs to be figured out,” one of them said.
08/12/12 N Sundaresha Subramanian/Business Standard
