Male’, Maldives — The Ministry of Planning and Infrastructure of Maldives informed today that the first phase of Gulhifalhu reclamation project has been completed.
The Ministry informed that the first phase of the land reclamation project was dredging and placing six million cubic meters of sand and now that it has been completed, they have started attaching revetments in the area.
While the Planning Ministry predicted that the completion of Gulhifalhu project according to the master plan will take USD 120 million (MVR 1.86 billion), the Ministry handed USD 53 million (MVR 817 million) without the mandated bidding process to a Dutch dredging company, Boskalis Westminster Contracting Ltd to complete the first phase of the project.
While the first phase of the project has been completed, the ministry has not yet revealed how much land will be reclaimed in the next phase.
The incumbent government decided to reclaim 30 hectares of land in Gulhifalhu lagoon that is about six kilometers away from the capital Mal’ city. The government intends to make the country’s main port in Gulhifalhu along with making the land a location for manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facilities.
Fifteen percent of the land is also said to be allocated for housing purposes as a way to tackle congestion and housing shortages in the capital city. The Ministry informed that the project done by Boskalis will be completed by March 2021 if the work continues without any interruption.
