Public outcry over flat recipients list

"I've been living in the city for rent, moving from one house to another all my life. But I didn't even seem to be a resident of the city," one complained after the permanent list of flat recipients was released on Saturday.

The list of 4,000 flat recipients under the government's project to provide flats in the Male area has been released. Many people whose names were on the list as those eligible for housing have been disappointed. The method of awarding points is unknown. Nobody knows why the points were low.

So, some people poured their complaints on social media, describing the announcement of the list of flat recipients shortly before the expiry of this government’s term as a major fraud.

Some people recalled September 11, 2017. The list of 661 flat recipients was announced on the same day. Without their names and just form numbers. The then housing minister was President-elect Dr Mohmmed Muizzu.

Later it was learned that some families who did not live in the city also got flats there. It was a very happy day for some who did not get even 30 points while those who scored 90 and above were left bereft.

The list was one of the reasons why many people were dissatisfied with the government of former President Abdullah Yameen.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's government has only 11 days left. The list of 4,000 flat recipients in the government's housing project was announced on Saturday.

According to the government;

The biggest concern of those whose names are not on the list is that they do not know the method of awarding marks.

"I have been living in Male for 23 years. I have two children and a wife. I got 47 marks during the PPM period, and 57 now," a man named Mohammed Latheef wrote on Facebook.

"How are marks given?"

"There is no equality. I don't know the rule for giving marks. As in previous governments, the flats have been distributed to party folk and relatives," another complained.

"63 points for those who have lived in Male for 30 years and still live in Male. But 79 points for those who have not lived in Male for six years. What is this rule?” another wrote on X.

Aiminath Afiya, who has been living in the city for 21 years, said that whenever the government announces flats, she applies with great hope. To date, the most luck she had was when her name ended up on the list of eligible people for these 4,000 flats.

In addition to the list of eligible people, the portal also includes her name as an eligible person, but when the permanent list of flat recipients was released on Saturday, she had gotten only 30 points. Even people who had never lived in Male got flats with more than 90 points.

"I dont understand what is going on. Perhaps I havent been living in Male," she wrote on Facebook.

The government has said that the flats will be given to the applicants after visiting their homes and assessing their situation. But some people say the state has not visited to check the situation.

The list of flat recipients was examined by Atoll Times and it was found that the government had included people connected to MDP MPs. Many others, whose living conditions were much worse, were left without housing.

Expressing her opinion on social media, Fathimath Solih said that the government promised housing to those in dire need of it, but had given it to those who had only recently moved to Male or never lived here, and that it was "an insult to those who have spent their entire life in Male'."

“No one has the right to deprive someone of their rights and talk uselessly to kill someone's hope,” she said.

The government has now opened the opportunity to submit complaints. The Housing Ministry is asking people to submit their complaints through the Gedhoruverin Portal by 4:00 pm on Thursday.

A total of 20,697 people applied for flats in the first phase under the Gedhoruveriya scheme. Of these, about 13,000 are eligible and will be given flats. However, the government has faced a lot of criticism and complaints about the permanent list.