US to provide Maldives with cost-free border control system
28 Mar 2013, 8:09 PM
Neil Merrett
The US government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Maldives government to provide it with a border system after several years of uncertainty and legal wrangling over the future of the country’s immigration controls.
Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim and US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Michele J Sison signed an MOU that will see a US technical team coming to the country next month to begin work on planning and implementing a new border system, according to local media. The system is scheduled to be installed by June this year.
Speaking to Minivan News , Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali said it was too early to tell if the new border controls would be a direct replacement for the system provided by Malaysia-based IT group Nexbis. Nexbis is currently awaiting a decision by higher courts in the Maldives over whether anti-corruption authorities have the right to terminate its agreement with the government.
“We will have to see [what the agreement means for the government’s concession agreement with Nexbis]. Details need to be worked out,” stated Dr Ali, who did not elaborate further.
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