Malé, Maldives – Maldives government has contracted Dutch company Van Oord to carry out the land reclamation project in Addu City.
The agreement to carry out the reclamation of 194 hectares of land in Addu city with the financial assistance of India, was signed during a ceremony held in Addu on Sunday morning to inaugurate the National College of Policing and Law Enforcement.
The agreement was signed by Permanent Secretary of Planning Ministry Zeeniya Ahmed Hameed on behalf of the Maldives and Cornelius Adriand Dibreyn, Dredging Director of Van Oord on behalf of the company.
The project, which is funded via a USD 800 million line of credit extended by the India’s EXIM Bank and approved by the Indian government, is expected to be completed within 18 months, which includes coastal protection measures as well as land reclamation, according to the government.
As such, 90 hectares from Hithadhoo, 23.3 hectares from Maradhoo/Maradhoo Feydhoo and 76 hectares from uninhabited islands will be reclaimed.
Despite the signing of this major reclamation project, environmentalists continue to voice out against it and the major environmental repercussions the project would result in – environmental impacts with have been highlighted in the EIA report of the project as well.
