Addu City Council said on Monday, May 15, that the physical works for the City's land reclamation project will begin in June.
In a Facebook post, the council said that the majority of the boundary wall installation for the planned reclamation zones has been completed. Currently, the installation of dredger pipelines in the zones is ongoing.
“Physical works of dredging and land reclamation will commence in June,” the council said.
The land reclamation project was awarded to the Netherlands' Van Oord, and the company had already mobilized machinery and equipment to the project site in December 2022.
A total of 194.3 hectares of land area will be reclaimed under the project, which is being executed through a USD 800 million line of credit from the EXIM Bank of India.
- Shore protection on 11 kilometers of the reclaimed area
- 90 hectares of land to be reclaimed from Hithadhoo
- 23.3 hectares of land to be reclaimed from Hulhumeedhoo with additional of five hectares two lands will be reclaimed from the lagoon
- 23.3 hectares of land from Hulhumedhoo and two islands of five hectares to be reclaimed for tourism purposes.
- 76 hectares of land from Maradhoo/Maradhoofeydhoo, along with three islands of 8.3 hectares and two islands measuring 3.3 hectares, will be reclaimed from the lagoon for tourism purposes.
- Total project cost: MVR 1.3 billion
- Project Completion: 1 year and 6 months
While the physical works of the mega-reclamation project is scheduled to commence next month, concerns have been raised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the severe environmental damage as a result of the initiative. Despite protests from various pro-environment associations and organizations urging the government to halt the project, the government has stated its intention to proceed with it.
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