India hands over Hankede bridge in Addu

India on Sunday officially handed over the Hankede bridge and the dredged land in the southernmost Addu city to the Maldives government.

The projects were handed over to the Maldives government at a ceremony held in Addu as part of Indian external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar's visit to Maldives.

Infrastructure minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib and foreign minister Moosa Zameer received the projects on behalf of the Maldives government.

The bridge, which is part of the previous government's project to develop Addu's Hankede island for integrated tourism, was dredged from Maradhoo to Gaukendi.

The project, funded by a loan from the EXIM Bank of India, includes:

Under the project, additional land and beach protection work has been carried out in Hithadhoo, Maradhoo, Maradhoo-Feydhoo and Hankede.

Speaking at the ceremony, Muththalib said the dredging work is an important project for the development of Addu.

“The land needed for housing and city development projects has been dredged,” the minister said.

The minister said the 1.46 km link road connecting Maradhoo and Hithadhoo is the first such bridge to be developed outside the Male region.

“This project will facilitate transportation and facilitate the development of Hankede tourism zone. This will be an important project for the development of tourism in Addu,” he said.

The minister said the road construction project in Addu is nearing completion and the problems faced by the roads in the city will be resolved with the completion of the project.