Buyers of Aqua Vita flats complain over missed deadlines

One of the pending flat developments in Hulhumale is Aqua Vita, launched by a Sri Lankan company in 2018. The company has given various dates to the buyers for completion of the 14-storey building, comprising 98 high-end apartments, which is under construction in Hulhumale Phase I. 

According to the official website of Aqua Vita, a joint venture between NPH Investments Pvt. Ltd. and Ayenka Holdings Pvt. Ltd. of Sri Lanka, 94% has been completed so far. That's where work had progressed till July 2022. Since then, the company has not provided an update on the work. 

According to documents shared by some buyers with Atoll Times, they were told that they would be handed over the flats by September last year. However, the date had passed without any action. 

Later, on February 5, a letter signed by Aqua Vita's general manager Shehan Silva promised to complete the flats by February 30 and hand over the keys officially. The letter also asked the them to contact the office and collect the measurements for furnishing and other interior finishing requirements of the apartments.

"I assure you 100% that the handing over of flats will not be delayed beyond this date. The contractor has assured us that additional staff will be released to complete the work on that date," the letter said.

A buyer, who did not wish to be named, said he contacted the company to ask why they were not handing over the apartment as the date mentioned in the letter had passed, but the company is yet to respond.

"They don't even respond now," he said.

He said that when he went to the site, a lot of work was pending.

"Since they didn't contact on the given date, I went there and checked. There is no further progress. The sand dunes are still there the way they were before, and it is not even possible to enter the site fully," he recalls.

"I'd say they're still not ready to hand over the keys. It's still the same, a construction site." 

The buyer said he had paid close to the full price of the flat via a loan. However, he said he was struggling financially as he had to make loan repayments without getting the flat. 

According to him, the rent for the apartment he is currently living in is MVR 25,000. He is paying MVR 28,301 per month to the bank for the loan he had taken to buy the flat. Therefore, the household expenses are barely met with the income he earns.

"There is always talk of the contractor or HDC getting delayed, there are such excuses. We thought we would get an apartment by the time we had to start loan repayments. It's been months and I'm paying rent and paying the loan and what I get in most of the months is not even enough," he said.

Mimrah Ahmed, assistant public relations manager at Urbanco, which oversees Hulhumale, said the progress of Aqua Vita's work is good at the moment. He said 98% of the flats have been completed so far.

Mimrah said the developer has applied for building occupancy permit.

"The review process of granting the permission is going on. It's almost finished. Once the permission is granted, they will start handing over the apartments," said Mimrah.

The developer did not respond to requests for a comment.

Among the luxury flats that were started in Hulhumale, apart from Aqua Vita, The Garden by Jaah and K-Park Residency, which were handed over in 2017, are also pending. The complaints of those who bought them are equally acute.

Urbanco had earlier said that it was its policy to complete projects without cancelling the contract and extending the deadline even if developers did not complete the project on time. As a reason, Urbanco said it would not be a solution to cancel the agreement and take over the premises as developers had sold apartments and made cash transactions.

Mimrah said Urbanco is closely monitoring the construction of flats in Hulhumale.

"We are inspecting regularly to see if the work is completed on deadlines," he said.

"Urbanco is now closely monitoring the progress of Aqua Vita and other places. We regularly inspect, execute the responsibility of Urbanco," he said, adding that Urbanco will not be negligent in the completion of these flats.