Muizzu’s “gift” to Hoarafushi after returning from Hajj - bottling plant halted, workers being laid off

One of the first actions taken by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu upon his return to Malé City following the Hajj pilgrimage has been to halt operations on the Hoarafushi bottling plant. Permanent employees at the facility have since begun receiving termination notices and are being sent home.

Speaking to RaajjeMV, an employee who was terminated on Wednesday, said that this was the “big gift” the president gave the island community after returning from the noble piligrimage of Hajj.

Under the Indian government's High Impact Community Development Project, a project to bottle water in glass bottles was initiated, and 95 percent of the project had been completed when the government changed.

RaajjeMV understands that, during a recent visit to Hoarafushi island in Haa Alif Atoll, Fenaka Corporation’s Managing Director, Mohamed Najah, met with employees of the bottling plant and assured them that the government and the company were working collaboratively to bring the facility into operation by the end of June.

Despite the Managing Director’s assurance, no additional progress has been made on the project in the one and a half years since the current administration took office.

Another employee who was terminated, said that they were told by the MD that no employee would be terminated and that he was “not” a political person.

On Monday, Fenaka sent termination letters to seven permanent employees.

The letter sent to the employees read that “as the company has decided to halt the work of the Hoarafushi Bottling Plant, the Board of Directors of the company has decided to terminate the employment agreements of the employees working there”.

The employee who spoke to RaajjeMV revealed that this mainly included employees that belonged to families who support the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

While letters were handed to employees on Wednesday stating that the bottling plant work was being halted abruptly, 11 entirely new employees had been hired for the plant job just before the recent parliamentary elections.

When the government said they were halting the work of the bottling plant, which was started with 40 percent ownership by the Hoarafushi Council, they had not even informed the council.

Among the promises made by President Muizzu when coming to power were that he would not stop any ongoing projects and that he would not terminate anyone from employment except those in political positions.

I have generally said that this government will not, under any intention, even if it's with a political mindset, take back anything promised to be given to any citizen, whether it's land or flats, all jobs except political positions, salaries promised to be increased, loans promised to be given, projects announced to be started, or projects that were started and stopped and couldn't be restarted, we will do all these things,"

Muizzu while speaking at a campaign rally at the Artificial Beach.

While many people describe President Muizzu's government as one with a culture of lying, deception, and misleading, a person who spoke from Hoarafushi said this is also a low-grade incident that happened in that manner.

A resident of Hoarafushi island asked: how many families have become destitute, how miserable have their children's education and lives become?

Another person who spoke from Hoarafushi regarding the matter said that in his view, this is directly political. He believes people are being terminated from their jobs to make room for new people to be hired to get votes for the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) in the upcoming council elections.

The resident said that they people are terminated from their jobs directly to harm certain individuals. He said that the purpose of this is to clear space to hire people they want for the council elections.

Further, the source said that a person prominently involved in PNC activities and affairs has been calling individual employees, saying he is trying very hard to save their jobs.

This is the first project that the government has decided to halt among the High Impact Community Development Projects being carried out across multiple islands with Indian government’s assistance.