A mockup of the floating city is set to be unveiled in Hulhumalé.
A mock-up of the city's houses was first scheduled to be displayed last Ramadan. For various reasons, the unveiling was delayed. However, a floating house has now been built in the Hulhumalé lagoon.
Ibrahim Riaz, the project's local consultant, explained that the floating city faced setbacks due to the government's delay in granting the requisite permissions. However, he revealed that preparations to show the houses to the general public have been completed.
When the mockup of the project was made, the practical works of the project could not be carried out in the lagoon due to the lack of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report from the Environment Ministry.
The agreement for the "floating island" project was first signed in 2010. However, the project was halted due to the change of government. After the current administration came into power, the agreement was signed for the second time in early 2021. The Ministry of Tourism signed the agreement with Dutch Dockland in June last year after several amendments were made to the agreement.
The duration of the project has not been changed during the amendment to the agreement. The project was awarded in 2019 with a two-year completion deadline. However, the practical work of the project is yet to begin.
The USD 1 billion project is scheduled to build 5,000 houses.
The project initially quoted a house for USD 250,000 (MVR 3.8 million). However, Dutch Dockland said it is working to change the price of houses to make them more affordable for the public due to the extent of housing problems in the Maldives.
