Maldives surfers protest China bridge
Eleven surfers, including Maldives’ body boarding champion, were arrested Monday evening when they protested against the construction of a bridge they say could destroy Malé’s main surf break.
01 Mar 2016, 9:00 AM
Eleven surfers, including the Maldives’ body boarding champion, were arrested Monday evening when they protested against the construction of a bridge they say could destroy Malé’s main surf break.
Four were released last night, and another seven were released by the criminal court today. Ahmed ‘Ajay’ Aznil, the president of the Maldives Surfing Association, remains in custody on a charge of obstructing government work.
The China-Maldives friendship bridge will connect the capital to the airport Hulhulé and is a key election pledge of President Abdulla Yameen.
The controversial US$210million project was handed last year to the Chinese CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Company, a firm blacklisted by the World Bank in 2009 over fraudulent practices.
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