Minister of Defence Mariya Ahmed Didi has stated the government is working to meet the urgent need for the Coast Guard to have its own indigenous dockyard and harbour. She made the statement during a meeting with the Parliamentary Committee on National Security Services regarding the Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) Harbour Development Project.
Minister Mariya was summoned to the committee meeting alongside Chief of Defence Force Major General Abdulla Shamaal, Vice Chief of Defence Force Brigadier General Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef, and senior officers of Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).
The UTF project is one of the 10 areas for cooperation outlined in the action plan on defence cooperation between Maldives and India, signed during former President Abdulla Yameen's visit to India in 2016.
During the meeting, Minister Mariya said successive governments since 2013 have made efforts to find an appropriate solution to the lack of an indigenous harbour and enforce the 2016 action plan. MNDF coast guard has been in urgent need of an indigenous dockyard and harbour and that the steps were taken by the current government so far is to implement the Maldives-India defence cooperation of the 2016 action plan, stated the minister.
The minister said the main reasons revolve around the coast guard's primary functions which include the defence of maritime borders, the provision of civil defence and emergency response and the performance of constabulary duties to ensure maritime safety. She detailed that vessel repair and maintenance are key components of a maritime support system but that major repairs and refits of coast guard vessels are done abroad, leaving the vessels non-operational for long periods of time.
Furthermore, Minister Mariya noted former Minister of Defence Colonel (Retd.) Mohamed Nazim's visit to India in April 2013, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon's joint commission meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in 2015. She also highlighted former Minister of Defence Adam Shareef Umar's assigned responsibility for the enforcement of the 2016 action plan. She added that efforts by the current administration are being made to meet the need for the coast guard to have its own dockyard and harbour as quickly and efficiently as possible.