Create more jobs for people living in the atolls: Atoll Chiefs

MALE, June 9 (HNS) -- Industrial works need to be expanded in the atolls to provide more employment opportunities, according to Atoll Chiefs. Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Chief Ahmed Rasheed told the five-day Atoll Chiefs Consultative Meeting 7 which started in Male on Sunday that as the number of unemployed youths and adults are increasing, it was important that industries aimed at creating jobs are set up in the atolls. Laamu Atoll Chief Moosa Ali said that despite the existence of an Industrial Zone in the atoll, job opportunities are scarce as the zone has not been fully utilised. The atoll chiefs said that it was of paramount importance that given the availability of fewer jobs, that industries are developed in the islands. "The number of foreign workers employed in the resorts has to be decreased and more Maldivians have to be given jobs. It is important to find out why locals are reluctant to work at factories and also find more job-creating works," Moosa Ali said. The Atoll Chiefs Seventh Consultative Meeting, which ends on Thursday, is attended by 17 Atoll Chiefs and officials from all the atolls of Maldives.