After the groundbreaking ceremony of the new terminal, GMR Male CEO Andrew Harrison told Haveeru yesterday that the company decided to carry out the project in several phases. Heavy Load is currently reclaiming part of the area, he added. "We have to award the project to an additional party as we are required to complete the reclamation of land by next February. We also decided to award the project in several phases," he said. GMR did not disclose the area awarded to Heavy Load for reclamation. Andrew stressed that the Indian company cannot pass the deadlines stated in the concession agreement made with the government. "We can't let the deadlines stated in the agreement pass even if it's the development of the airport or the US$25 charge. But charging of the US$25 fee has been stalled until the legislation is passed," he said. Andrew noted that the company is authorised under the agreement to carry out retail business. "We expect to pay US$100 million per year to the government in the next 10 years. This a stack of foreign currency the government will receive," he said. The GMR chief executive emphasised that no other investment exists in the Maldives that contributes such a large amount of foreign currency to the government. "We have to collect the US$25 charge as it is part of the development of the airport. Besides the US$600,000 training budget allocated for this year, we have decided to train our employees in collaboration with Mandhu College," he said. GMR is required under the concession agreement to resurface the existing runway, Andrew said, adding that the runway is not suitable to cater for the new terminal. "We have decided to resurface the runway after the recent incident that led to the tyres of an Emirates aircraft bursting. We'll do it," he said. GMR earlier said GADL International Limited, its subsidiary company assigned to build the new terminal, would invest US$20 million to reclaim the land and construct a breakwater. Heavy Load, in which ruling Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) interim Chairperson 'Reeko' Moosa Manik holds shares, was awarded the first phase of the reclamation project, which includes 50 percent of the reclamation using 1 million cubic metres of sand.