President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has toured the picnic island development site on Kudagiri Island in Kaafu Atoll.

The president visited the development site for the Kudagiri Picnic Island on Thursday and observed the progress of the project.

The visit saw President Solih inspecting the development of the arrival jetty, reception area, mosque, powerhouse as well as the accommodation block.

He also visited the "Camp Island" development site and inquired about the progress of the development project.

The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) conducted the land reclamation component of the project, with the rest of the facilities being developed jointly by five state-owned enterprises under Corporate Social Responsibility.

Vice President Faisal Naseem and senior government officials and senior official at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) accompanied the president during the visit.

The picnic island is being developed for the leisure of the resident of Maldives congested capital, Malé City.

The project comprises of land reclamation of two islands in Kudagiri, which is 10.5 km away from Malé City. This includes eight hectares which were to be renovated into a picnic island and 1.5 that for a sandbank. Revetment works will also take place in order to protect the area, and the sand material required for construction were obtained from Maldivian atolls.

Designating a picnic island for Malé residents is one of the incumbent government’s first 100-day pledges.

Kuda Bandos, located 9.7 kilometers away from capital Malé, was the former picnic island before it was re-opened as a tourist resort in August 2016.

Uninhabited islands that are used by the public for recreational use are known as picnic island.