Gov’t never promised to assess living conditions in flat allocation process: minister

Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure Dr. Abdulla Muththalib has falsely claimed that the government had never promised to assess living conditions in the process of allocating flats under the ‘Gedhoruveriyaa’ Scheme.

At a press conference held on Thursday, a journalist from RaajjeTV inquired about how the government had carried out the assessment of living conditions. In response to this, Minister Muththalib claimed that they have never disclosed that they would assess living conditions, and that the information collected through the portal was not designed to evaluate living conditions.

We have never said that we will assess living conditions. The information collected through the portal is not designed to evaluate living conditions. Even the previous government did not assess living conditions when creating the list. What I'm saying is, for example, if you put the name of the rented place, you can't even tell who the people living there are. You just have to put a number. The amount in square feet. 15 people live there. 10 people use the bathroom. These are just numbers. No verifiable information has been collected. If that's the case, how can we know who is living in which house? That information hasn't been collected. It's just numbers written down."

Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure Dr. Abdulla Muththalib

While Minister Muththalib has said this, Dr. Ali Haidar, who served as the first Housing Minister of this government, stated in the Petition Committee on 29 July 2024, that they would assess the living conditions of those who receive flats.

Haidar had revealed that the most misrepresented area was the part about living conditions. He noted that some flats given previously did not reach the rightful recipients for this reason. Therefore, he said that this time too, they would assess the living conditions of those who meet the criteria for receiving flats. Haidar had also stated that they would assess living conditions based on officially available information.

Minister Muththalib said that the information in the flat list is being disclosed in great detail, and the reason for not meeting the criteria will be very clear. He also said that applicants will have the opportunity to claim their rights.

The list we publish shows under which article of the policy a person doesn't meet the criteria if they don't. We specified that much. This means that when you look at the policy, you'll know, for example, under section (d), what specific things in (d) are the basis for that person not meeting the criteria. We're giving this detailed information to the person so that when they see it in detail on the portal, they'll have a very good opportunity to complain about it, to challenge it. We've made the decision with very detailed reasons as to why and for what reason. So that opportunity should be available to that party. What I'm saying is not about conducting a big prosecution in public. I'm saying that every party has the right to challenge it before being removed from the list if they feel their right has been lost, the opportunity to claim that right. We're providing as much detailed information as possible to give that opportunity."

Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure Dr. Abdulla Muththalib

The housing minister said that 1,820 people who meet the criteria will receive flats, while 3,119 people will not receive flats.