Kudagiri picnic island opens
President Solih was joined by top officials from the government and state-owned MTCC and HDC which development the reclaimed island.
President Ibrahin Mohamed Solih on Saturday opened Kudagiri Picnic Island, developed as part of the government's pledge to provide facilities for the residents of the congested Greater Male Region to unwind and go on a picnic on holidays.
President Solih was joined by top officials from the government and state-owned MTCC and HDC which development the reclaimed island.
The mobile application and website for Kudagiri opened for bookings at 4pm on Thursday, an island which is accessible from both Male and Hulhumale via 20-minute ferry ride. On the opening day of the island, which would normally allow 500 people a day, only 300 people are allowed.
Kudagiri Picnic Island
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Modern facilities for picnic goers
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Official holidays and weekends are reserved for Maldivians only; no cost will be charged to travel to Kudagiri during those days.
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On non-holidays, a ferry ticket to Kudgiri is to be sold at MVR25 per person
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The 'entrance fee' for the island on non-holidays is MVR 50
Kudagiri is the island that the government had pledged to provide for the capital city residents to fill the void created by former President Mohamed Waheed's administration when Kuda Bandos was leased for tourism development. In order to fulfil that promise, the government first decided to declare one of the reclaimed island in K. Enboodhoo lagoon as a picnic island.
However, due to delay in construction of the island at Crossroads due to various reasons, the project to reclaim land from Kudagiri lagoon was handed over to MTCC. Though a picnic island has been built in Kudagiri, the government has said that a similar island will also be developed in Enboodhoo.
