MOFA silent on jet charter for Shahid to attend Police Academy opening

Ministry of Foreign Affairs has continued to remain silent over how a jet was chartered for Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid to attend the opening ceremony of the Police Academy in Addu City.

The Academy was opened on March 27. Shahid at the time was in Qatar and had flown in a chartered jet to attend the ceremony.

Anonymous sources reported to TMJ that Shahid had traveled back to the Maldives on a Air Hamburg carrier. The flight number is AH0B29R and had taken the direct route from Doha to Gan airport. Shahid then returned back to capital Male’, and then back to Doha on the same flight.

TMJ had appealed to MOFA to release the details of this charter under the Right to Information Act. A letter from MOFA said that the jet was chartered not from the Ministry budget and therefore no details can be made available. The Ministry further refused to divulge which party had chartered the flight.

A quick look at flight charter prices – a jet from Doha to the main airport in Male’ would cost between US$ 39,000 and US$ 48,000.