Maldives government withdraws from New7Wonders contest

THE MALDIVES government has pulled its support for the New7Wonders of Nature competition, accusing organisers of demanding expensive license fees and sponsorship for continued participation in the contest.

Thoyyib Mohamed, Minister of State for Tourism, Arts and Culture, and chairperson of the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), said in a statement issued yesterday by the government: “With regret, we are withdrawing from this competition because of the unexpected demands for large sums of money from the New7Wonders organisers. We no longer feel that continued participation in this competition is in the economic interests of the Maldives.”

MMPRC managing director, Simon Hawkins, said he believed the competition was more of a scam to get money than a fair contest.

New7Wonders said in a statement that the withdrawal by the Maldives would not affect the country’s participation in the contest. It said while the Maldives Ministry of Tourism would no longer function as the official supporting committee for the Maldives, proposals had already been made for a replacement.

This is the second controversy involving New7Wonders after it accused Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism of misleading the public earlier this year (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 11).

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