Addu City, Maldives – Speaker of Parliament and President of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mohamed Nasheed has said on Friday that he is not sure if the current government will divert their focus on the development of Addu City.
Speaking to his supporters In Hithadhoo ward of the city during his trip to Addu City, Speaker Nasheed told that Addu people have always been discriminated in the past and the only way for the government to gain support and trust of Addu people is to prioritize the development of the city.
Answering to a question by one of his supporters, Speaker stated that if the government puts more effort to the development of Addu during the remaining period of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s term in office, that he believes this government will gain more support.
He also added that Addu City has various resources and if the governments intention is pure that Addu City will be in their highest developmental prioritized zones.
If the government focuses on this place [Addu City] in the remaining one year of this presidency, I say the government can still gain more support. But I’m not sure if this government would do that.
Speaker of Parliament and President of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mohamed Nasheed
He also told his supporters that he intends to visit the city more frequently and he will raise these concerns regardless of who is in the Presidents Office, when asked about his rare visits to the city since MDP came to power in 2018.
Following the question Nasheed told his supporters that he was not able to visit Addu City more frequently because of the May 6, 2021 explosion outside his home in Malé City which left him heavily injured.
Speaker Nasheed’s remarks on Addu development comes as the people of Addu continue to raise questions over the delay in development brought to the city, despite multiple pledges previously during various campaigns.
While Addu City is currently the most populous city of the country after the capital Malé, the government has revealed that a total of MVR 6.3 billion will be spent on the development of the city, excluding the MVR 3.8 billion which India has pledged via its credit line towards the development of roads and harbors of the southern most geographical atoll of the country.
Apart from road development, the ruling party pledged to resolve the existing issues within the electrical, sewerage and water supply systems in the city, as well as to develop the existing Gan International Airport, while expanding options to broaden the tourism industry in the city, during the presidential campaigns.
Addu has been described as a location which should be the hub of development in the southern region of the country by President Solih’s government and that this is exactly the focus of the administration towards the city.
