Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam has stated Thilafushi is not an appropriate location for the development of the main commercial port of the Maldives.
In response to calls for the Male' Commercial Harbour to be relocated to Thilafushi rather than Gulhifalhu, Minister Aslam said Thilafushi is not an appropriate location for the port as there is a high level of contamination in the Thilafushi lagoon due to years of disposing waste on the island. He said such a site would not be ideal for the development of the main commercial port where food and other essential items are unloaded before being distributed across the country.
The minister said the policy of the administration is to keep Thilafushi dedicated for industrial work such as waste disposal. He said Gulhifalhu is the best location for the development of the port, noting all the operations of the Male' Commercial Harbour and North Harbour would be relocated to the island.
The port development project in Gulhifalhu is one of the major ventures initiated by the current administration. Land reclamation component of the project is currently ongoing, with 6 million cubic meters of land to be reclaimed for the development of the port.
Delivering the presidential address at the Parliament of the Maldives in February, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih revealed the port will feature state of the art facilities, equipped to cater to 400,000 shipping containers on average per year.