Adam Azim, Managing Director of the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC), stated that the MTCC could handle the development of the Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) facilities, had it been contracted to do so.
Azim said this in a phone-interview with Dhiyares, the sister-newspaper of The Maldives Journal. He said that had the MTCC had the capacity to handle a project like the UTF facilities.
The facilities at UTF would involve a dockyard and a harbour that can handle 500-tonne vessels, and a 300m jetty.
MTCC is currently maintaining a dockyard that can handle the berthing and docking of 250-tonne vessels at Thilafushi.
In addition, Azim said that he did not know why another party had been contracted to develop the facilities at UTF. MTCC had the capacity for it, he said, and there was no way that anyone could claim otherwise.
The Indian government had granted the Maldives a $50 million USD loan, the work of developing the facilities at UTF would be carried out by a company chosen by the Indian military.