Hulhumale reclamation for land scheme to begin on Friday

Reclamation of Hulhumale lagoon to provide free land to natives of Male under the government's Binveriya scheme is expected to begin on Friday, housing ministry said Tuesday. 

Under an agreement signed between Urbanco and Sri Lanka's Capital Marine and Civil Construction (CMC) in late August, the company will reclaim: 

Urbanco had early this month released a drawing showing the planned dredging of Hulhumale lagoon. The project is planned to be implemented in three phases. They include:

At a meeting held with land recipients under the government's Binveriya scheme on Tuesday, state housing minister Akram Kamaluddin said the reclamation work is expected to start this week.

"Now the EIA is being done and submitted. The EIA will be approved in two days. So, we are looking to start dredging on Friday. The site will be completed in about a month at the latest," he said.

"We expect to begin handing over plots from Giraavaru Falhu next week. Plots from Gulhifalhu are now being allocated. Plot allocation from Hulhumale is almost complete."

Akram said the aim is to hand over all the lands and registries by November 5.

Reclamation of land from Hulhumale phase 2, K. Thilafushi industrial island, and the Dhiyanaru lagoon in Kaafu Atoll was awarded at a cost of $259 million (MVR 4 billion), with funds raised from selling two plots in Hulhumale and Thilafushi.

CMC has been given a three-year deadline to complete the project. The works to be done under the agreement are:

The project has been awarded to CMC on contractor finance basis. For the various works involved in the project, CMC will use various subcontractors including Dutch dredging company Boskalis, which is reclaiming land for the port development at Gulhifalhu lagoon.

Urbanco has drastically altered the master plan to reclaim the lagoon area of Hulhumale Phase 2 where the previous government had decided to develop a cruise terminal.

The government of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has decided to build the cruise terminal at the lagoon next to the Dhiyanaru lagoon or Dhiyanaru Lagoon 2.

Meanwhile, housing ministry has earlier said that the permanent registry of land under the Binveriya scheme will be handed over to all land recipients before November 11.

In July, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih announced that the administration plans to allocate 2,000 housing plots in Gulhifalhu, while reserving another 2,000 for the housing scheme in Giraavarufalhu.

Land reclamation in Giraavarufalhu is underway.