Gulhifalhu dredging completed; Giraavaru stalled by pending bill

Minister for Construction and Infrastructure Dr Abdulla Muthalib said on Sunday evening that the reclamation of a large portion of the areas started by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration to provide land to the people of capital Male has been completed.

He said that while most of the Gulhi lagoon site has been dredged, the Giraavaru lagoon site was stalled for non-payment of bills due last year. 

The Infrastructure Ministry said on X on Sunday that 100 hectares of land has been dredged out of the 150 hectares scheduled in Gulhi lagoon.

Speaking on state-owned television PSM's 'Raajje Miadhu' program on Sunday, Minister Muthalib said the Giraavaru lagoon dredging project has been stalled for a while now. The project is funded by the state on a cross-subsidy basis and the rest is contractor financed.

About 160 hectares of land will be dredged under the Giraavaru project. When the project stopped, only 50 hectares had been dredged, the minister said.

One of the reasons the project came to a halt was that the state had not paid a bill due last year.

“There was a delay in payment of a bill they [the contractor] had put in around September and October,” the minister said.

He did not say the amount of the bill, but said it was a huge amount and he was trying to resume work by arranging the funds as soon as possible. He also expressed concern about the cost of the project.

"This project is about USD 197 million. In fact, it is very expensive and the state has to spend a lot of money on it," he said.

The minister said the dredging of the Giraavaru lagoon is one of the top priorities of the government and the project will be completed as soon as possible.

"Already we have companies expressing interest in carrying out the mentioned basic services and road construction project in Giraavaru. We hope to sign a deal with one company soon," he said.

The funds for the dredging of the Giraavaru lagoon were obtained from the lease of N. Dhigufaru lagoon and a nearby island, Dhekenanfaru, to a foreign company for USD 27 million (MVR 416 million) for a period of 99 years.

The previous government's plan was to dredge the lagoon and give 2,000 plots of land to the residents of Male.

The new government has announced plans to dredge an additional 50 hectares from the Giraavaru lagoon and another 85 hectares from the Gulhi lagoon.