Almost all Maldivians who have ever traveled abroad has felt the burdens of the dollar queue. Even going at dawn, people may still have to get in line behind hundreds of people waiting to acquire dollars for their tickets.
The long lines are not the only problem faced by holiday makers, or patients who must travel abroad face when procuring dollars. People using foreign expatriates to wait in line to get dollars and people getting earlier in line just to sell their places to those who come late has been causing turmoil for those getting in line to get dollars.
"We spend many hours in line to get those dollars. I believe that a better system must be implemented for the people wanting to acquire dollars. This problem has been going on for a long time now. We have to stop the sale of earlier numbers," a disgruntled man shares his experience in buying dollars.
The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has been working on a new system to combat these problems, and starting last Sunday, they have informed that the sale of dollars will be handled directly from MMA till next January.
MMA Governor Azeema Adam informed that the numbers will only be given out after checking to see if the documents of those coming in to get dollars are legitimate. Under this system, the queue process will be cut and those procuring dollars will just have to come at a specified time directly to collect the dollars. A larger amount of dollars will be distributed to the public under this system.
The question on many peoples mind right now will be that how will the new changes affect the acquiring of dollars.
MMA statistics show that 535 people arrived last Sunday to collect an amount of 802,125 dollars, a number greater than the sum distributed daily by a bank.
The new changes seem to please the customers, as they comment that not having to wait in queue any longer has made their days significantly easier.
"Getting dollars have become much easier. This is something that went without any planning previously. Had this system been implemented earlier, we would have been saved a lot of effort. This has been a welcome change," a customer informs.
One thing that seemed noteworthy is that while most issues always seem to have people debating on two sides, people only seem to be aligned to one side in this case. Everyone seems to be pleasantly happy with the currently implemented new system and remain hopeful that it will continue.
MMA plans to provide the dollar sale service straight from the airport starting next year, making it easier for passengers to directly get dollars before they depart and closing the door on those who would cancel their tickets after getting dollars. The days of wasting time in long queues on the street seem to be far behind now.
