Protesters demand leaders resign over mass layoffs at Hoarafushi Bottling Plant

Former employees of the bottling plant being established in Hoarafushi island of Haa Alif atoll have staged a peaceful protest and demanded President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and MP for Hoarafushi constituency Ali Moosa resign, following the sudden termination of their employment.

The protest, named “Nikamethi Nukurey” which loosely translated means “Don’t Oppress”, is to be staged on Thursday evening. The protest was staged in front of the Fenaka Hoarafushi branch.

Protesters raised their voices demanding the reinstatement of terminated employees. During Thursday’s rally, several protesters asserted that many families are facing hardship due to the sudden terminations being carried out unjustly.

Protesters said that terminating and abandoning innocent employees without cause demonstrates the incompetence of President Muizzu's leadership, and such leaders should resign immediately and go home. They also called for the resignation of Hoarafushi constituency MP Ali Moosa. In addition to this, they repeatedly called for the resignation of Fenaka's Managing Director.

Terminated employees also stated that if people do not speak out against such injustices, the cruelty of the current government will reach extreme levels in the future.

During the live coverage of Thursday's protest in Hoarafushi, Hoarafushi Council President Mohamed Waheed said that the bottling plant was established through the hard work of the former administration of the now-main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and then-Hoarafushi constituency MP Ahmed Saleem, and that it would have provided a great service to Hoarafushi. However, the inability to proceed with the plant's work is a major obstacle to the island's development.

On June 9, Fenaka sent termination letters to seven permanent employees.

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.

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.

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.