Event organiser Uber Events said a concert by Australian ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again, scheduled for Malé's social centre for Thursday night, was cancelled after the youth ministry revoked its venue approval while band members were already en route to the Maldives and stage setup was underway. Uber Events said full refunds would be issued this week and apologised to ticket holders, local artists and sponsors.
The ministry asked for Thursday's Bjorn Again show to be moved because of urgent repairs to the social centre stage, where water is leaking through the roof and there are electrical wiring problems, Youth Minister Abdulla Rafiu told Mihaaru. Cancelling was the band's own decision, he added. He said the ministry offered Hulhumalé or Feydhoo Finolhu and the band decided to cancel because there was too little time, after full consultation with the ministry.
The show's cancellation caused irrecoverable loss, Uber Events Director Umar Ziyad (DJ Umar) told Adhadhu. He said the venue was booked months in advance, the show was priced and sold on that basis across three categories, and the site was nearly ready when the ministry asked for it to be moved. He said the ministry offered suggestions rather than options – Feydhoo Finolhu and Crossroads – and that he asked only for another venue in Malé or Hulhumalé where he could sell the same three ticket categories. Of 1,800 tickets, 1,000 had sold: MVR490 (US$32) standing, MVR990 bleachers and MVR1,310 seated. He said Maldivian bands had been preparing for months, people were travelling from other islands, resorts and abroad, and he had received the band at the airport the night before. They boarded in Australia with a show and landed without one, after four months of arrangements.
The government told organisers the Bjorn Again show could not be held because the band has performed at Pride festivals, Adhadhu reported. It said a Facebook post calling for the show to be stopped, which described the band as promoting homosexuality, was brought to the government's attention, and the instruction was then passed to organisers from the highest level of government through Youth Minister Abdulla Rafiu. The band performed at a Pride festival in Birmingham this year. Sources involved in the event told Adhadhu that the maintenance work was a pretext.
Former President Nasheed said that neither the show nor music should be banned, adding that what young Maldivians want should be allowed to happen and that the country belongs to all Maldivians, not to a particular group.
The government submitted a bill to repeal the 28-year-old Uninhabited Islands Act and replace it with a new law on leasing uninhabited islands and lagoons. The eight-chapter bill gives the president power to decide how uninhabited islands and lagoons are used in all but a few cases. The current law covers only non-tourism uses. Under the bill, islands released for tourism would also be determined under it. Lagoons could be leased for the first time, though only for agriculture and social purposes. The economic ministry would assign islands to the relevant ministry for industrial, tourism, fisheries, agricultural, economic, social or state use. The bill also sets out how councils are to handle islands and lagoons within inhabited islands' jurisdiction.
STO's second-quarter profit rose to MVR279 million as revenue nearly doubled to MVR6.9 billion (US$447 million), up 97 per cent on the same quarter last year. Profit was MVR163 million a year earlier. The company said the increase came from higher revenue as fuel prices rose, and that while profit from the fuel business itself fell, other businesses did better. Costs rose 117 per cent to MVR6.2 billion. First-quarter profit was MVR276 million.
About 80 per cent of port operations will move to Thilafushi and the rest will be handled at Industrial Village, where the Thilamalé bridge meets Malé, President Muizzu said on PSM's Nation Chat programme. He said the port would be fully operational by 11 November next year, with containers moved between the two sites by roll-on/roll-off ferries to keep freight away from residential areas, and the whole operation run on a digitalised management system. Space will be leased to private businesses at both sites. No services will be provided from the current port area. Thilafushi's site is 10 times the current port's area, with a quay three times longer. Muizzu also said finger jetties would be added at existing speedboat terminals alongside the final section of the ring road, from MPL to the tsunami monument.
Immigration officers raided the Rashu Market in Hulhumalé, checking 55 foreign workers and detaining 20 found to be working without authorisation. The operation is part of an intensified enforcement effort under the current government that has deported 8,600 undocumented foreigners since taking office.
Addu Mayor Ali Nizar called on the government to return Savaaheli island to the council after President Muizzu abruptly transferred it to the tourism ministry's jurisdiction, which came after the council had already tendered the site for development as an entertainment and recreation facility, with bid documents already purchased by interested companies.
A resolution filed by MDP MP Dr Ahmed Shamheed calling on parliament to halt the government's Pearl Residence visa programme was introduced at Wednesday's sitting. It demands all related agreements with operator Henley & Partners be disclosed within 14 days, arguing the scheme was launched through administrative decree rather than legislation and without parliamentary oversight. It noted that Henley & Partners ran Malta's citizenship-by-investment scheme which the EU Court of Justice ruled unlawful last year, and was flagged by US financial crime authorities in 2014. It also pointed out that a corporate residence visa already exists under a 2020 immigration law amendment requiring a US$250,000 fixed deposit, the same threshold as the Pearl programme, raising questions about the new scheme's purpose.
The government proposed a bill to expand the Utility Regulatory Authority board from five to seven members, adding a non-voting CEO seat and a dedicated legal expert position, with the new members to be appointed within 30 days of the law taking effect. The bill also removes the single-term limit for board members, allowing reappointment beyond one five-year term.
