Muththalib calls for commercial use of Hulhumalé land plots
Muththalib said one of the main challenges faced by residents when they moved to Hulhumalé Phase 2 was the lack of services and commercial facilities.
Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development Dr Abdulla Muththalib has said the government should establish a mechanism to allow residential land plots in Hulhumalé Phase 2 to be leased or used for commercial purposes.
The minister made the remarks on Sunday during a ceremony marking the completion of additional lift installations at the Hiyaa residential towers.
Under the current policy, residential plots allocated in Hulhumalé Phase 2 cannot be used for commercial activities or leased for business purposes. Commercial land has instead been allocated by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) from plots remaining after residential developments.
Muththalib said one of the main challenges faced by residents when they moved to Hulhumalé Phase 2 was the lack of services and commercial facilities.
He added that the government has also faced difficulties in providing those services because of the limited amount of state-owned land available in the area.
"Looking at the land currently remaining with HDC, we all know that there are insufficient plots to provide necessary public services and conduct commercial activities," the minister said.
He said relying solely on HDC-owned land would not be enough to meet future demand and proposed making use of some of the more than 2,000 residential plots allocated to residents in Hulhumalé Phases 2 and 3.
According to Muththalib, the government's objective is to enable private investment on privately owned land so that residents can access services within their communities.
He noted that the current regulations permit development only for residential purposes.
"If part of these plots could be used for commercial purposes, it would also provide an economic benefit to the landowners," he said.
The minister said such a policy would support business activity, create employment opportunities and increase the range of services available to residents.
"We need to transform these allocated residential lots into properties where owners can generate commercial income while at the same time providing the services required by the residents living here," he said.
He added that services such as hospitals, clinics, private preschools and shopping centres could be developed on privately owned land if the necessary regulatory changes are introduced.
