Urbanco has decided to revert back to calling themselves Housing Development Corporation (HDC).
HDC was rebranded as 'Urbanco' during the administration of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
A senior official at HDC told Mihaaru News that the decision had been made in consideration of the confusion the name change has caused among the public.
"Although it was called Urbanco, all the official documents said HDC. HDC's name did not change. Legally, it remained as HDC. The use of both these names simultaneously gave rise to confusion among the public, so we have decided to stop calling it Urbanco," he said.
"This is not even a rebranding. We're just stopping using the name 'Urbanco'."
In an event held last Saturday, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu also described the office's rebranding as having been done just for the sake of doing something, adding that no steps were taken to bring into effect the legal change in name.
"It looks like a branding work done just to give someone a large amount of money. Nothing has been legally confirmed," the President said then.
The rebranding of HDC to Urbanco was announced at its 22 year anniversary event held on April 1, 2023. Subsequently, the logo displayed outside their offices, as well as on company t-shirts, were also replaced to reflect the name change.
HDC was initially established in 2001 as a separate unit of the President's Office, tasked with addressing the housing difficulties faced by Male' residents.
It was later changed to be a separate company called the Hulhumale' Development Corporation which oversaw the planning and development of the island.
Later still, the company was renamed Housing Development Corporation. Currently Thilafushi, Gulhi Falhu, and Kuda Giri are run under their administration.
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