Attorney General Ahmed Usham has assured that the planned Rasmalé project will be implemented in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the Maldives.

Responding to former President Abdulla Yameen’s warning over the project’s 99-year lease, Usham said the maximum lease period for tourist resorts was extended to 99 years in 2015 during Yameen’s administration.

Usham said the first Tourism Act, enacted in 1999, limited resort leases to 25 years. The period was extended to 50 years in 2010 during former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, before being increased to 99 years in 2015.

He also cited Article 8 of the Tourism Act, which requires the Government to compensate investors for the depreciated value of their investments when a 99-year resort lease expires.

Usham said the Rasmalé project would instead be governed by the proposed Real Estate Act. He noted that only a letter of intent setting out commercial terms had been signed so far, and that definitive agreements would be negotiated before the project begins. The relevant legislation must also be approved by Parliament.

The Government has decided to lease 500 hectares of reclaimed land in Rasmalé to UAE-based Eagle Hills for 99 years. The USD 20 billion project is planned to include a modern marina and a world-class waterfront city.