The parliamentary budget committee has removed the Fushidhiggaru Falhu project from the proposed state budget for 2024.
The committee has approved the proposed state budget for 2024 with an additional USD20 million. The USD3.2 billion budget was passed unanimously by the committee members.
The members included several amendments to the budget before its approval, raising the initial budget amount by USD20 million. The budget was approved after decreasing the funding for some projects and increasing the funding for other projects. In addition, the USD26 million allocated for the Fushidhiggaru Falhu reclamation was cut during the committee stage and the amount has been distributed to other PSIP projects.
The proposed state budget allocated USD558 million for the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP), of which USD71 million is dedicated to new projects and USD402 million to 449 ongoing projects. Notably, the largest allocation of funds for the commencement of new PSIP projects was reserved for the Fushidhiggaru project.
Details of the budgetary changes and the changes in the scope of the projects were presented at the committee meeting. The changes to the PSIP projects were submitted by Parliamentarian Yaugoob Abdulla and were approved by the committee.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu pledged to complete the Fushidhiggaru project as part of his initiative to guarantee housing for all citizens. The project involves the reclamation of 1,280 hectares in Fushidhiggaru Falhu and the allocation of 11,000 land plots and 26,000 flats from the area, which would be connected via a bridge and the high-speed ferry service.
President Muizzu's most ambitious plan to solve the housing crisis in the Greater Male' Region is the Fushidhiggaru project. The President has pledged to begin reclamation in his first 100 days in office.