Strada to appeal court ordered fine, at High Court

Strada Private Limited, parent company of waterfront restaurant Newport View has decided to appeal Civil Court’s order to hand the plot over to the government along with a fine of MVR 1.1 million, at the High Court.

In a statement on Saturday, Strada detailed that the company had invested in the bridge viewing platform to open an indoor play area for children, futsal grounds, global franchises Chatime and Newport, adding that they had to vacate the plot in which Chatime was stationed as the government had ordered to do so, to develop the ring road.

As such, the government has thus far failed to reimburse the company’s losses in having taken down the “Chatime” teashop.

Although they had to give up a chunk of the plot as ordered by the government, the state still kept taking the same amount as monthly rent, revealed the statement.

It further states that the plot was taken from them against Article 40 (b) of Maldives Constitution which states that “private property shall be inviolable, and may only be compulsorily acquired by the State for the public good, as expressly prescribed by law, and as authorized by order of the court. Fair and adequate compensation shall be paid in all cases, as determined by the court.”

Stressing that the company had refrained from paying rent because of the losses they incurred after Chatime was shut down, Strada went on to add that they had come under fire for not paying their employees their due monthly salaries as well.

In addition, the company stated that the reimbursement owed to it by the state totals a bigger amount than what it owes to the state and that the corruption watchdog had ordered the government to halt reimbursing Strada.

Accusing the court order of being uncalled-for, Strada urged the government to reimburse their losses as mandated under the constitution.

On Thursday, Civil Court ordered the owner of Newport View to hand over the plot with a fine of MVR 1.1 million.

Opened on 6 February with a 500-person capacity, Newport is run by former council member of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Zahid Rameez’s spouse Malaka Abdul Hakeem.

With a monthly rent of MVR 100,000, the 10,000 square-foot property was leased for eight years to Strada Private Limited during the administration of Abdulla Yameen, in 2016.

The company was ordered to vacate the property after having failed to pay the monthly rent for three months, in March. In April, the government filed suit against Strada to recover the lease payments and vacate the property at the Civil Court.

While Strada owed MVR 1,149,271 in lease and fines to the Ministry of National Planning and Infrastructure, the company had also filed a case against the state, seeking compensation for the government’s order to vacate its property.