Minister Haidar asserts flat list has not been annulled

Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed has asserted that the list of flat recipients under the previous administration’s Gedhoruverin housing scheme, has not been annulled.

Throngs of people gathered at the Ministry of Housing, Land and Urban Development on Thursday, voicing concerns over the delay in publicizing the flat recipients list.

They stressed that they have not received responses to the letters they submitted regarding their concerns.

Even though the housing minister earlier said that the final list of recipients would be published within this month, the people have expressed distrust in the minister and accused him of trying to influence the list.

Speaking to RaajjeMV regarding these concerns, Minister Haidar said that the list of flat recipients would not be annulled and that the rumors circulating about the list are baseless.

The minister said that while reviewing the list issued by the former administration, flats will be allocated fairly and that work is underway to publish the final list by month-end.

Further, the minister highlighted that the ministry will continue to respond to letters submitted by the general public in accordance with the established procedure.

Under the Gedhoruverin housing scheme introduced by the former administration, 4,000 flat recipients were gazetted, and agreements were made with 3,778 of them.

While some people on the flat list have noted that the issue of flat allocation is still unclear, they have repeatedly expressed concern and held continuous protests as the government's rhetoric on the matter keeps changing.

The protesters have been stressing that the people's rights have been violated and that this issue has been dragged for many days.

Maldivian citizens dreamed big when casting their votes to elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu as their next president during last year's presidential elections. During the election campaign, he promised to do everything beneficial for the people's lives and progress. Especially regarding housing. He painted a picture for the citizens, giving full assurance that he would provide shelter for all.

However, some opposition political leaders at the time warned the public that if Muizzu came to power, he would withhold the plots of land and flats allocated during former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's government.

Muizzu brushed off these claims and assured the people that nothing would be taken away from them.

Muizzu promised to hand over flats and plots of land to their rightful recipients, without any changes as publicized in the government gazette, during the presidential elections campaign, having said that his government would allocate flats according to the list determined by the government. Even after coming to power, the president said that he will not take away housing given to a citizen.

Despite this, to date, flat and land recipients have been pleading for the release of their rightful plots of land and flats since the government took the reins.

The Gedhoruverin scheme was launched by the former administration to address the housing crisis facing the residents of the Greater Malé Region.