Muizzu’s underground parking project stalls amid familiar pattern of unfulfilled promises

A flagship infrastructure promise by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, an underground parking facility beneath the Baa Jamaluddin School site, topped with a public square, has failed to progress beyond the design phase, leaving yet another empty plot in the capital.

Launched in the lead-up to the parliamentary elections, the project was touted as a key part of Muizzu’s presidential manifesto and was initiated in collaboration with the Malé City Council. Despite its high-profile unveiling, the initiative has yet to see any meaningful development beyond the release of conceptual designs and a ceremonial inauguration. The land remains untouched, with no visible progress on construction.

This is not the first time ambitious parking solutions have been announced under Muizzu’s leadership. During his term as Mayor of Malé City, similar plans were introduced to build multi-storey parking structures in six locations across the city. However, none of those projects materialized, with Muizzu later attributing their failure to a lack of support from the then-central government.

In January of last year, following the swearing-in of new City Council members, Muizzu once again pledged that construction on Malé City’s long-promised parking buildings would begin by April. Over a year and a half later, not a single project has broken ground.

Malé City’s chronic parking crisis continues to frustrate residents, with promises of structured solutions made and abandoned across successive administrations. Despite being a recurring item in political manifestos, the issue remains unaddressed, underscoring a pattern of grand announcements with little follow-through.