President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is scheduled to undertake a visit to southernmost Addu City this weekend.

Spokesperson at the President’s Office, Miuvan Mohamed revealed that the president will be visiting the southernmost city of Addu on Saturday.

The primary purpose of the president’s trip is to inaugurate two major projects on the City. As such, the physical work of the Gan International Airport project as well as the land reclamation project in Addu will be inaugurated as part of the visit.

The visit will also see the president meeting with the Island Council, Women’s Development Committee (WDC) and residents of all districts of the city.

Van Oud Dredging of the Netherlands, was awarded the Addu City land reclamation project, for which the physical work will be commenced during the president’s upcoming trip.

Under the scope of the project, a total of 194.3 hectares of land will be reclaimed from the lagoon of Addu and shore protection work will also be carried out.

90 hectares of land from Hithadhoo, 16 hectares from Maradhoo and Maradhoo-Feydhoo are to be allocated for tourism purposes. Further, 8.3 hectares from the island’s lagoon will be reclaimed, alongside three islands and 3.3 hectares of land will be acquired for the 4-lane detour link road's embankment.

The project is valued at MVR 1.3 billion and was contracted to be completed within 18 months.

The president announced plans to develop the Gan International Airport with the capacity to serve 1.5 million tourists on an annual basis, during his presidential address this year. The project is being carried out under the line-of-credit provided by the Exim Bank of India.

He also revealed that duty-free shops, restaurants and lounge facilities will be established.

Cargo facilities with cold storage for commercial and tourism use will also be developed, with a new control tower and a fire station also scheduled to be set up under the project under which airport roads and parking areas of the airport will also be developed.

During his presidential address, President Solih stated that 236.5 hectares of land will be reclaimed, including land designated specifically for tourism. The government has allocated more than MVR 2.6 million on these development projects.