Major achievements in three big pledges to Addu: President

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu stated last night that there are major achievements in honoring his pledges regarding Addu City. The pledges he spoke of are restoring Shangri-La Maldives Resort to operational status, Addu City's coastal tourism project and development of Hankede.

While meeting with residents of connected islands during his ongoing visit to Addu, the President said that job opportunities will be facilitated through tourism. And so the President said that the government has various projects in progress in order to expand Addu City's tourism.

While noting the works that are being done regarding the three biggest pledges he had made in order to expand Addu City's tourism, President Muizzu proceeded to share the latest information regarding the projects to residents of Addu last night.

A 1,000 bed coastal tourism project to be built in Addu was signed with Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) last night. This was done at Addu High School, Hithadhoo.

While the company was handed the 600 bed tourism project, the President said that related surveys had already been completed by MTDC.

He also said that he had received the latest information regarding the reopening of Shangri-La Maldives Resort during his visit there.

The government had stated that Shangri-La would be repaired and reopened after it had been closed down ever since the days of Covid-19.

President Muizzu also said that the heads of the company that run Shangri-La had given their assurance to the President that the resort would be reopened in December, as they are currently conducting preparations.

"We were given assurance today as well that Shangri-La Maldives Resort would open by the end of the year. These are the arrangements that have been made. This will also bring about job opportunities," said President Muizzu.

The President stated that the biggest barrier to the development of Hankede was the payment not being settled to the company that was awarded the project by the previous government. The President also said that the current government has been attempting to move the project for a year and a half.

However, in order not to delay the project any longer, the agreement was voided, with a company from Turkey expressing interest in the project once proposal submissions were announced, said the President last night.

"A Letter of Award was given to a company from Turkey on 23rd October when the ministry had re-announced the project, with the company submitting a proposal. We are currently in the acquisition cost payment phase," said President Muizzu as he was sharing the latest information regarding the Hankede project.

While referring to Tourism Minister Thoriq Ibrahim, President Muizzu said that the Turkey company would make the payment within the coming week. The President also stated that he is hopeful that the agreement to develop Hankede will be signed once that is done.

President Muizzu went on to say that 1,000 beds will be developed in the first stage of the total 3,000 bed Hankede project.

"They will develop a 1,000 bed integrated tourism project, which will be the first phase. The project will have a total of 3,000 beds. This will also create job opportunities from the Hankede project," said President Muizzu.

"I made a total of three pledges. The pledges are the work to reopen Shangri-La Maldives Resort, which will be done by the end of the year. With that, coastal tourism will be 6,000 beds. The development of 600 beds has begun. The Hankede project is also one of them." 

The President said that many job opportunities will be created once all three pledges are achieved.

The development of Hankede was first opened by the government 20 years ago in 2005. While various governments had announced the project afterwards, it had not moved forward as of yet.

During the previous government, Maldives Fund Management Corporation (MFMC) had handed over the development of Hankede to China National Electrical Engineering Co,. Ltd.

Afterwards, when the current government took office, the project to develop Hankede had been announced once again during the Parliament elections in April 2024 with a fireworks celebration. Nevertheless, the work for the project has not begun as of yet.

President Muizzu stated last night that along with the three tourism projects, even more job opportunities will present themselves with the additional agreements that have been signed regarding the development of Addu.

During last night's meeting, HDC was awarded the project to construct housing units in Addu to solve the housing issue Addu is facing. The President also said that a 30 megawatt powerplant should be established and that they are working towards handing over the project very soon.

President Muizzu went on to say that there are many things that can be done in order to bolster the quality of health services.

The President continued by saying that the issue of congestion in Male' will also be reduced once these services are established in islands, while referring to the reasons why people want to move the capital city. He also said that with the expansion of development projects in islands, people will want to move to the islands once they are made into places that people actually want to live in.