Public enraged after Minister Haidar reveals flat list won’t be released on Thursday

Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed has revealed that the interim list of 4,000 flat recipients under the Gedhoruveriyaa scheme will not be publicized on Thursday.

Responding to a question from a journalist at a press conference held at the housing ministry on Thursday, Minister Haidar said that they have decided to release the list by the “end of this week”.

As today is Thursday, when asked a second time, Minister Haidar instead asked which day the week begins. He then stated that the flat list would be announced one day before the start of the new week.

While the delay in publishing the flat list has drawn immense criticism towards the government from several members of the public, Minister Haidar has given various dates, assuring that the list will be released.

Although the minister had stated that the list would be made public before the end of October, the housing ministry issued a statement on October 28, expressing that they needed more time.

On Sunday, they announced that the list would be published this week.

With Sunday and Monday being declared as government holidays in connection with Republic Day, some people questioned whether the week is being counted including or excluding the holidays. However, the government has not responded to this.

A reliable source told RaajjeMV that the flat list is scheduled to be published on November 17.

Earlier, the ministry stated that they were re-evaluating all forms submitted for the ‘Gedhoruveriyaa’ scheme and compiling a new flat list, after determining that the flat list made by the current administration was also incorrect.

In an earlier press release, the housing ministry stated that the final list of flat recipients, compiled by the 'Housing Advisory Committee' which was established on the president's advice, and the 'Housing Consultative Committee' formed by the Malé City Council, was also deemed unsatisfactory.

The press release highlighted that due to the failure of the work of the committees formed for the specific purpose, the evaluation of the list is now being carried out directly by the housing ministry.

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.

Throngs of people have been taking to the streets over the past couple of months regarding the matter, voicing concerns over the delay in publicizing the flat recipients list.

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.

The former administration determined that 15,046 people were eligible under the scheme.

The now-opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s then administration decided to allocate flats to all eligible applicants.

Under the scheme, the work on 700 housing units built in Hulhumalé was completed and handed over to the government by the Indian government on October 7.

The final list of flat recipients under the scheme carried out by the MDP administration was announced on 15 November 2023.