Maldives to lease 19 more islands for development

The Maldives, one of the world's most exotic holiday destinations, plans to lease 19 uninhabited coral islands to be developed as upmarket resorts, officials said Thursday.
The new resorts will add to the 44 islands that are either to be leased out this year or at various stages of development, Tourism Minister Mahamoud Shougee told AFP by telephone from the capital of Male.
"Once the new investors are identified, they have four years to build the resort," Shougee said.
The Maldives is famed for its exclusive tourists, where guests pay thousands of dollars a night to snorkle, dive and sleep in wooden cabins built over turquoise waters.
In 2006, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's government leased 35 islands to foreign and local investors for resort development. Only two of those are currently in operation.