More workers to be hired for completion of FDC Flats this year

Managing Director at Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC) Hamdhan Shakeel has said efforts are underway to finish construction of all FDC flats in Hulhumalé within this year, and that they would be securing more laborers for the project's completion this month.

A post shared by MD Hamdhan on "X" revealed that they were working on overcoming challenges to complete construction on 4,000 housing units before the end of this year.

Those who would be recipients of FDC flats were decided before the end of former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration, but the incumbent government has announced plans to revise the list in light of recommendations of an advisory committee created specifically for that purpose.

The 16 towers of the "Amaan Udhares" housing project is being financed by two loans taken from India's Exim Bank totaling USD 227 million (MVR 3.5 billion). The project was awarded to India's JMC for development. The 16 towers being developed under the "Amaan Dhoadhi" housing project was handed over to NBCC for completion.

Hamdhan revealed that NBCC would be hiring 250 additional workers within this month to help achieve their target. He added that once the structure of the towers were complete, they would be contracting skilled workers to complete the finishing rather than unskilled ones.

"We hope to bring more workers and speed up this project," said Hamdhan.

On Wednesday, Hamdhan revealed that after commencing the work on 4,000 flats under this project, the previous administration had taken 22 months to install 216 slabs. He noted that the incumbent government had overseen the installation of 192 slabs in these five months alone, adding that they had sped up the project's pace significantly since assuming office.

The FDC flats are being built across 32 towers each with 17-18 floors and eight apartments on each floor. The housing units include 1,200 two-bedroom flats and 2,800 three-bedroom flats.

The initial project development phase did not include critical considerations such as connecting the towers to the power grid, security systems, and the GPON network which would allow residents to access the internet and other media outlets. The logistics of connecting the towers to waste disposal systems and finishing landscaping work had also been omitted from the initial planning.

Outlining these difficulties, Hamdhan revealed that an additional MVR 454.5 million would be needed to finish the work, and that they were working on securing the funds to move forward and achieve their construction targets for these towers.