Malé land plot awarding biggest deceit in history: MP Falah

The housing project carried out by the former administration for the people of Malé City was one of the biggest scams in the country's history, accused ruling party People's National Congress (PNC)'s parliamentary group leader and Inguraidhoo MP Ibrahim Falah.

These remarks were made at the parliament today, where Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development Dr Ali Haidar was summoned to clarify details about the plots issues to the people of Malé by the former government.

Following a heated session during which the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) was removed from the parliament floor for repeatedly disrupting proceedings, PNC held a press conference. Speaking to local media, MP Falah criticized the previous government's handling of the housing land issue, calling it one of the biggest scams in the country's history and asserting that it did not reflect a responsible administration.

According to Falah, the value of lands issued from Hulhumalé alone exceed MVR 5.4 billion.

"I will say that this is one of the biggest scams in the country's history," he said.

Falah said that if the government had plans to give out free plots for Malé residents, everyone in the city should get their plots for free. This comment was in response to previous attempts to sell some lands to the people of Malé City.

"This is something which violated the policies a lot," Falah accused.

Baarah MP Ibrahim Shujau referred to the Land Act and stated that land should be allocated only after it has been created. He pointed out that with plots issued from lagoon area, the first step would be to reclaim the lagoons first before allocating the land.

MP Shujau went on to question the intentions of former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration, and said that the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) administration prior to that had developed the roads and networking of Hulhuamalé Phase 2. If the MDP government had good intentions, why did they not issue plots from that land area, he asked.

"If they truly cared about the plight of the people of Malé, why didn't they distribute land from the areas that were already ready and prepared?" he asked.

MP Shujau also responded to MDP members' claims that President Dr Mohamed Muizzu's government has failed to carry out any housing projects despite being in power for nine months. He said that it is this government who has had to reclaim the lands needed to issue land for the list made by the previous government.

He also said that the Fahi Dhiriulhun flat project initiated by the previous government is also in a similar situation, with only a few flats completed. However, this government is working to complete the flats at a very fast speed, he said.

Highlighting numerous discrepancies in the flat allocation process, MP Shujau accused some applicants of submitting fake documents to prove long-term residence in Malé, allegedly facilitated through councils with connections to the MDP. He speculated that this was done to favor MDP members in the flat distribution and questioned how these flats could be legitimately allocated given the deceit involved in the process.

"60 percent of this has been theft [deceitful actions] carried out to give flats to their supporters, their party members. How can we give out flats to a list [made] with such deceit. We cannot," Shujau said.

He added that when President Muizzu served as the Mayor of Malé City, he visited residents door-to-door and saw firsthand the conditions they were living in. Because of this, the president understands the plight of the people, Shujau said, adding that this is why the current government is committed to ensuring that flats are allocated to those who are most deserving.