News Desk
Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has turned his anti-India playbook against his former ally, accusing President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s administration of secretly handing over the new Thilafushi Commercial Port to an Indian company.
The attack forces President Muizzu into a defensive position against the very rhetoric that helped sweep him into office. Yameen, the original architect of the “India Out” movement, told supporters at a People’s National Front (PNF) gathering that the government signed away the strategic port under hidden terms that remain shielded from the public.
“An Indian company has been given the port, but nobody knows the details of this agreement,” Yameen claimed, adding that the public will only discover what rights the nation surrendered once contract details eventually surface.
The accusation struck a raw nerve within the administration, prompting Economic Development Minister Mohamed Saeed to issue a swift public denial on social media.
“President Dr Muizzu will build the country’s main commercial port as a 100 percent Maldivian-owned asset, standing as one of this nation’s most valuable properties,” Saeed stated on platform X, calling Yameen’s remarks “outright lies” born out of an inability to accept the project’s success. “I give full assurance of this to the Maldivian people.”
Saeed insisted that the relocation of port operations from Malé to Thilafushi remains the largest state-funded undertaking slated for completion during Muizzu’s first term.
Despite Yameen’s claims of Indian control, the initial preparation work for the site was awarded to a Chinese firm earlier this year. Government plans target moving all cargo handling and maritime services to Thilafushi before November 11 next year.
To move construction forward, Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) opened a public tender seeking contractors for operational bays, administrative blocks, cold storage units, bonded warehouses, and container terminals. MPL confirmed the facility will run around the clock, with bid submissions open until September 10.
