President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has inaugurated the second phase of the Gulhifalhu land reclamation project.
Speaking at the function to inaugurate the project, Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam said efforts have been made to solve the housing crisis in Male’ since 25 years ago. He, however, said that previous governments were unable to find adequate solutions as they attempted to solve interrelated problems separately. He highlighted that the administration focused on commencing a major housing project to address various issues and provide flats and land plots to a large number of residents in Male’.
Also at the function, Parliamentarian Meekail Ahmed Naseem said the Gulhifalhu land reclamation project is the largest housing project ever commenced by a government for residents of Male’. As such, the government will be allocating 2,000 land plots from Gulhifalhu for the Binveriyaa housing scheme.
Royal Boskalis Westminster Limited has been contracted to dredge and reclaim 18 million cubic metres of sand and build stone revetments around the area at a cost of USD120 million for the second phase of the Gulhifalhu reclamation project. The Netherlands-based company stated the project will be carried out in an environmentally friendly manner. As such, the company will regularly monitor the relocation of the coral in the lagoon, reduce the spread of salt pollution, and monitor changes in the quality of the sea salt in the area.
Gulhifalhu is located about 4km from Male' City. The first phase of the dredging of the lagoon in 2010 was intended to populate the area and reduce congestion in Male'. However, the previous government stopped the project in 2013 and the current administration has re-drafted the plan for the development of Gulhifalhu. In addition, the development of the international port in Gulhifalhu is expected to resolve the difficulties faced due to the lack of space in Male’ Commercial Harbour.