President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated the government is working on securing funds to conduct the required land reclamation projects in the Maldives.
Speaking at a meeting held with the people of Gaafu Alifu Atoll as part of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s campaign for the upcoming local council elections, President Solih said the government will conduct the planned reclamation projects in islands where additional land has been deemed a necessity. Noting the majority of reclamation projects are carried out by Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC), President Solih said the government is working on securing funds and allocating more reclamation contractors in order to carry out the projects more efficiently. He said a decision will be made on the projects within the next two months.
The government has allocated USD 66.2 million in this year’s Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) budget for land reclamation and road construction projects. This is about 12% of the total PSIP budget.
Meanwhile, another 25 reclamation projects have been included in the domestic budget for 2021. This includes 3 ongoing projects, 3 new projects, 1 project in retention stage, 9 projects in pre-tendering stage and 9 projects in tendering stage.