Fainu airport plan draws anger and defiance
The airport and hotel project would swallow up most of Fainu island.
03 Jul 2018, 9:00 AM
Islanders lobbied the government and powerful tourism firms Tuesday over an airport project that would see them lose access to most of their land.
Almost half of Fainu’s resident population signed a petition, which was delivered to the Tourism Ministry, Universal Enterprises and Island Aviation.
Last month the Maldives Independent revealed how Fainu residents would lose access to two-thirds of the island, and that 57 football fields worth of vegetation would be destroyed to make way for an airport and hotel project.
Activists raised concerns about the need for an airport as Raa atoll already has a domestic one. The airport at Ifuru island, 26 kilometres away from Fainu, can be reached in 25 minutes by speedboat.
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