Friday
3rd May 2024
Dhivehi Edition
MP Ahmed “Tom” Thoriq (Mahibadhoo) has called on major businesses to set up a special fund to pay the salaries for pilots of the Dornier aircraft.
MP Thoriq said this via Twitter, in response to Defence Minister Mariya Ahmad Didi’s statement that the State’s budget was financially incapable of paying a Maldives National Defence Force pilot’s salary comparable to foreign and local flight operators.
Defence Minister Mariya had made the statement during a session of the Parliament Committee on National Security Services regarding the Dornier and hydrographic survey agreements made between the Maldives and India.
“Our budget does not have the capability to maintain our own pilots with large salaries comparable with those paid by foreign and local flight operators”, she said.
The Defence Minister also claimed that she did not believe that the State was financially capable of maintaining and repairing the Dornier aircraft. She also mentioned that the Maldives National Defence Force was incapable of maintaining the sea ambulances.
MP Thoriq wrote that he called one major businesses like Universal, Champa Brothers, and Sun Shiyam to set up a fund to pay the salaries for the pilots.
He added that a State could only prosper through commerce if its security and stability was guaranteed.