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13 September 2004
By Hilath Rasheed, Evening Weekly
Days before the Tourism Ministry’s
announcement, rumors were circulating around
the Internet that Vilivaru resort’s
most successful bidder was Athamaa Ibrahim
Abdul Latheef and that Biyaadhoo’s
most successful bidder was Sunland Hotels
Pvt Ltd.
On Thursday, the Tourism Ministry, in
the presence of the bid evaluation committee
and reporters, held a ceremony to officially
announce in what has become more or less
an endorsement of rumors which already
have been spread through word of mouth
or on the Internet.
Last week, Haveeru Daily reported that
the bid evaluation committee had revealed
to media that evaluation process was completed
and its final report submitted to the Tourism
Ministry. Haveeru also reported that the
committee did not reveal the identities
of the most successful bidders, and that
the Tourism Ministry itself could not be
contacted to obtain this information. To
me, this suggests that the Tourism Ministry
would have liked to keep this information
under wraps, until it made its official
announcement.
But, even one day before the Tourism Ministry
officially made the announcement (which
was on Thursday), one of my friends who
is presently abroad on holiday, sent me
an email saying that he has already “heard” that
Latheef had won Vilivaru and Sunland had
won Biyaadhoo.
Why was I not surprised? After all, this
is a time when most “official secrets” seem
to become “public secrets”,
circulated on MIRC channels and banned
websites, even before the government officially
announces them.
“This is a problem with most of
us. We are a people who cannot keep a secret.
We like to gossip,” one of my friends
commented.
The bid evaluation committee may have
conducted the bid evaluation process in
utmost secret. But then, as my friend said,
this is Maldives after all.
Some months back, one of my friends needed
counseling. But he was afraid to go to
a psychologist here in Maldives. I asked
why?
He said: “You can be sure that everybody
in town will know my story the moment I
step out of the counselor’s office.
I better go to India or some faraway place
where I can at least have a sense of anonymity.”
Well, just to round off this article,
I would like to add that Latheef had proposed
US$14.07 million for 120-bed Vilivaru for
a 10-year period, while Sunland proposed
US$20.02 million for 192-bed Biyaadhoo
for a 10-year period, if this information
has not already been circulated on the
Internet as “rumors.”
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