Next year's budget will prioritise housing: Minister Muththalib

The proposed state budget for 2025 will specifically prioritise housing projects, said Construction and Infrastructure Minister Dr. Abdulla Muththalib yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference held by the ministry yesterday, the minister revealed that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu expressed that his biggest priority after national safety is housing. In line with this view, the ministry will specifically focus on housing projects in next year's budget, said Minister Muththalib.

This will include projects financed via the budget, donor funding projects as well as projects funded through loans, he detailed.

"Majority of the budget will go towards housing. However, ongoing projects and pledges made by the president to various islands will proceed based on the budget capacity," he further added.

The Minister went onto highlight that the government has signed MoU's for two housing projects so far, including the 15,000 housing unit in Rasmalé and additional housing units in Eydhafushi island of Baa Atoll.

He detailed that the Rasmalé housing project is awarded to a Chinese company and that the project will proceed at a fast pace and will result in high quality units. He went on to say that the materials required for the project will be manufactured locally, in a factory that will be established on the first portion of land reclaimed under the Rasmalé project.

Ramalé is an project being implemented within the capital area of Maldives which President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu places high priority in developing as a 'total solution' for housing issues.

The project was awarded to Capital Marine and Construction (CMC) back in December last year on an in kind payment model, where the government is to give 70 hectares of land from the Malé area, 60 hectares of land from Fushidhiggaru and 10 hectares of land from Hulhumalé as compensation for the reclamation.

However, CMC has been unable to source the funds required to proceed with the project, and it has been on pause for some time now, despite the agreement requiring the company to finish the project within eight months.

Due to this, the government is now exploring options to restart the project under a new model, of which the details will be revealed at a later date, said the Minister.