President Abdulla Yameen on Friday opened the HDh. Kulhufhuffushi airport, which has yet to be fully developed.

Speaking at the event, President Yameen said that the completion of the airport will bring ease to Kulhudhuffushi residents and that the terminal will be completed before the end of the year.

He also said that if he is re-elected, he will place 3,000 tourist beds in the area within the first two or three years of his second term.

President Abdulla Yameen pledged to develop the Kulhudhuffushi airport within two years in his 2013 campaign. Yet, while the end of his term draws near, only the runway has been built.

Kulhudhuffushi’s white clay mangrove, considered to be the largest of their kind in the Maldives, were destroyed during the reclamation phase of the project.

At Friday’s inauguration ceremony, President Yameen said that no one has faced as much difficulty as he had in the past five years and urged the audience not to 'betray' him like his closest allies had.