Tourism will suffer if parliament bans pork and alcohol: Tourism Minister
25 Apr 2013, 3:01 PM
Ahmed Nazeer
A proposed blanket ban on the import of pork and alcohol would destroy the tourism industry of the Maldives beyond repair, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb has told parliament’s National Security Committee.
Local media reports said Addeeb told the committee that vast majority of the Maldives economy relied on tourism, which in turn depended on the sale of alcohol and pork. The whole tourism industry would suffer should these commodities be banned, Adheeb said.
The Tourism Minister said alcohol and pork were not imported for the consumption of Maldivians, and were brought in only under strict laws.
Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed was also summoned to the committee to discuss the proposed ban on the import of pork and alcohol.
The Islamic Minister told the committee that serving alcohol and pork or profiting from the trade of such haram commodities was not permitted under Islam.
Shaheem said told the committee that despite this religious fact, the decision to ban alcohol and pork altogether had to be “made by experts”.
The National Security Committee is currently researching a proposed amendment to the Import/Export Act to completely ban the importation of alcohol and pork in the Maldives.
The amendment to the Contraband Act was submitted by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Nazim Rashad, in November 2012.
Parliament at the time narrowly voted to accept the bill that would potentially ban pork and alcohol completely from the country. Consumption and sale is currently restricted to foreigners on resort islands, officially designated as ‘uninhabited’.
Presenting the amendment, Nazim argued that the import of these products violated article 10(b) of the constitution which states that “no law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives” – theoretically rendering laws governing the import and sale of haram commodities illegal and unconstitutional.
“We often hear rumours that people have alcohol at home in their fridge, available any time. We’ve heard that kids take alcohol to school to drink during their break. The issue is more serious than we think, it should not be ignored,” Nazim said at the time.