Auditor General Hussain Niyazi stated today that in line with the principle of auditing all state-funded projects, the RasMale project will also be audited, and land reclamation projects are best implemented by incorporating revenue-generating avenues.

Speaking in response to a question posed by a member at today's meeting of the People's Majlis Budget Committee held to review the upcoming year's budget, Niyazi stated that it must be recognized that land reclamation projects can only be executed feasibly by including a commercial component. He also stated that if a commercial component is not included during land reclamation, the reclaimed land will remain underutilized.

The RasMale project has been planned to execute real estate development in a manner that continuously generates revenue.

"What we need to recognize is that these projects can only be implemented feasibly by including a commercial component. Otherwise, the land we reclaim will still remain unused, and a lump of gold would be no different than a lump of stone," Niyazi stated.

He stated that based on the data compiled by them, excluding the RasMale project, over the past 30 years or so, around 70 land reclamation projects have been carried out. That is approximately 2,500 hectares of land added. In total, around MVR 19 billion has been spent on those 70 projects, Niyazi stated.

He stated that since electricity, water, and other services are not provided to most of the land reclaimed in that manner, they are still not being utilized for housing or industrial purposes. He stated that while the land remains unused in that manner, its commercial value amounts to 15 billion.

Therefore, state lands need to be utilized in a way that generates revenue for the state, he added.