Malé, Maldives – Due to Covid-19 restrictions in place, resort workers are unable to take off days and leave the resort, and this issue is being addressed at the parliamentary floor.
The issue was raised by the MP of Fares-Mathoda constituency, Hussain Mohamed Latheef, who appealed to the parliament on behalf of Maldivian resort employees who have not been able to leave the resorts and visit their families in months. The current safety measures by HPA state that resort employees must observe a 10 day quarantine period when visiting outside the resorts and some resorts are counting the quarantine period as unpaid leave days.
MP Latheef stated that he had discussed this issue with resort workers and had previously brought it to the attention of Health Protection Agency (HPA) in charge of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis in the Maldives.
MP of Velidhoo Constituency Abdulla Shafeeq said that the issue raised is a relevant concern, however, the Parliament has already passed a motion on the same issue. There are special acts in place protecting the rights of the employees, however, he said that some resorts are not implementing these guidelines and it should be on the Tourism Ministry to investigate these concerns. He also expressed concerns over some resorts workers who have not yet received the Covid-19 vaccine.
The Speaker of the Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed, supported MP Shafeeq stating that there should be no reason to delay vaccinating all resort employees.
Even I have noticed this. The numbers coming to vaccinate are very low. Even yesterday only around 100 people [came to vaccinate]. I don’t see any reason why resort employees are not getting the vaccine at the earliest possible time.
Speaker Nasheed
Speaker Nasheed said that the Parliament itself is facilitating resort vaccine programs as per the request of resorts.
