Male' City Mayor Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has officially requested President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to issue land plots to Male' residents free of charge.
In a tweet posted on Wednesday, Muizzu said he learned that 1,000 land plots were being issued from reclaimed suburbs Hulhumale', from the media. Muizzu said he requested the President via a letter that if plots were indeed being given, they must be issued free of charge, the same way land is issued to residents of islands. He did not disclose the date on which the letter was sent.
AVAS has learned that the Mayor sent the letter to the President's Office on February 22.
According to Muizzu, while the government speaks of issuing land to Male' residents, no official discussions regarding the matter have taken place with the City Council. The Mayor said while the City Council is in charge of the day-to-day affairs of Male' residents and resolving their issues, and as housing is the biggest issue faced in Male', excluding the City Council from discussions related to housing shows the government's lack of cooperation.
In his annual address to the Parliament, President Solih had said adequate housing and homeownership was the single biggest need of the Maldivian people. He said that the construction of 5,000 housing units in Hulhumale' announced at the opening session of the Parliament last year, had been underway in Hulhumalé, and that work was due to begin on 2,000 additional housing units in Hulhumalé. The units would be designated for Male' residents.
The President also said that land would be given to permanent residents of Malé. He said that the government would be providing 1,000 plots of land from Hulhumalé and at least 2,000 plots of land from Gulhifalhu to residents of Malé.
'God willing, land will be provided to the permanent residents of Malé in gravest need of housing as promised, by the end of this administrative term. Access to State resources should be guaranteed for all. Our goal is to work together to reach the same destination,' the President had said.
