Malé, Maldives – Planning Minister Mohamed Aslam on Wednesday said that the mega land reclamation project planned for Addu would take about four months to commence.
This remark came in response to a question aimed at the Minister by MP of Maradhoo constituency Ibrahim Shareef (Mavota) during a Parliamentary questioning.
The Minister explained the delay by detailing that the immediate work ongoing regarding the project is a sand search survey to identify sand dredging locations from inside the atoll.
The government of Maldives awarded the 194.3 hectare reclamation project to Dutch company Van Oord on 27th March, to be completed within 18 months from the date of commencement.
As such, 90 hectares from Hithadhoo, 23.3 hectares from Maradhoo/Maradhoo Feydhoo and 76 hectares from uninhabited islands will be reclaimed along with some coastal protection measures as well.
Details of the project:
- 90 hectares from Hithadhoo
- 23.3 hectares from Hulhu-Meedhoo and an additional two-5 hectare islands specially for tourism
- 76 hectares from Maradhoo/Maradhoo Feydhoo
- 3 islands of 8.3 hectares each and another 2 islands of 3.3 hectares each from inside the atoll.
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.
This project is funded via a USD 800 million line of credit extended by the India’s EXIM Bank and approved by the Indian government. The entire project is estimated to cost around MVR 1.3 billion.
