President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has stated that he strongly believes the list of 4,000 flats will be finalized and announced before the upcoming month of Ramadan. The previous government had announced the list of flat recipients shortly before the end of their term. Following the announcement of the list, due to numerous complaints, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had halted the process. The relevant ministry of the previous government also announced that they had suspended the distribution of flats in accordance with the ACC’s directive.
After investigating the matter, the ACC stated that 60 percent of the people who were given flats from the 4,000 flats distributed by the previous government did not meet the eligibility criteria. However, the ACC has given permission to the ministry to start giving flats to those who were correctly awarded points and meet the eligibility criteria. With this, the relevant ministries are continuing the re-evaluation work for the flats.
Speaking to journalists during his trip to the islands of Huvadhoo Atoll, the President said that within about a year, they have reviewed the work that was done and have started the process of doing it as he had promised. “I promised that we would not touch any flat or land plot given to any citizen. It’s an eternal principle that if someone obtains a flat or land plot through fraud, forged documents, it will be canceled from that person. That’s an exception,” the President said.
The President said that except for those who have grossly mishandled things as per ACC’s investigation, he wants to give the flats to everyone as promised. “In the coming days, at a very fast speed, we have started work to do it as promised. The main goal is to give it from where that person was given a flat or land plot,” the President said. The 4,000 flats decided to be distributed under the “Gedhoruveriyaa” scheme are being built with a sovereign guarantee of 227 million dollars given to the Maldivian government by India’s Exim Bank.
This is a project carried out by India’s JMC Projects Limited and National Buildings Construction Company (NBCC). Of the 32 towers included in this project, 16 towers are being built by NBCC, while the other 16 towers are being built by JMC. These towers include 2800 three-bedroom apartments and 1200 two-bedroom apartments. The two-bedroom apartments are 650 square feet units. The three-bedroom apartments are 900 square feet. While these are spacious apartments, FDC said that before handing over the flats to the public and people start living in them, basic services will be available in each building.
