President announces Hulhumalé 3 reclamation to complete by end of next month with the arrival of new dredger

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu announced today that an additional dredger has arrived in the Maldives to accelerate the land reclamation for Hulhumalé 3 and Giraavaru Lagoon, which are key areas designated for allocating land to Malé residents. He stated that with the new equipment, the Hulhumalé 3 reclamation project will be completed entirely by the end of next month.

In a post on X today, the President stated that the new dredger will begin work tomorrow on the Hulhumalé 3 project. He noted that the new vessel, working alongside the existing dredger at Hulhumalé 3, will expedite the work, allowing the entire reclamation to be finished by the end of next month.

The President mentioned that the construction of the "bund wall" at Giraavaru will commence after the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and other necessary requirements are fulfilled. Following the completion of the Hulhumalé 3 reclamation, both dredgers will be utilized for the Giraavaru reef reclamation project, according to President Muizzu.

He estimated that the reclamation of Giraavaru will be completed within 2–3 months.

The Hulhumalé 3 reclamation project, initially stalled after partial completion for land allocation, resumed on November 10 to reclaim the remaining 38 hectares. This project, under contract to Capital Marine and Civil Construction (CMC), aims to reclaim a total of 63 hectares.

The previous administration, led by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, had intended to allocate 9,000 plots of land from various locations, including Hulhumalé Phase 2 and Gulhifalhu. Some land registrations were issued, but with changes to the land-use plan for Gulhifalhu, new registrations were necessary.

President Muizzu announced plans to allocate 15,000 plots from the proposed Rasmalé area, available to all Maldivian citizens in Malé. He also indicated that to expedite reclamation for Rasmalé and Uthuru Thilafalhu, additional dredgers would be deployed, with a goal to complete Rasmalé's reclamation within five months; this area is noted to be twice the size of the combined first two phases of Hulhumalé.

President Muizzu had announced on October 14th that three dredgers would be brought in this year by Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) to reclaim land plots that have been contracted to the company across different areas of the Maldives.

He mentioned in October that a 45,000-ton hopper dredger would arrive in the third week of November and would be used to reclaim the land required for Rasmalé.