President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has announced that the government’s planned taxi line service in the Greater Malé Region (GMR) will begin in February.

Speaking at the “Rayyithunnaa Eku Kuriah - Hafthaa 104” ceremony at the Social Centre on Monday night, he said the taxis are currently in production and the service will start by February “at the latest”.

This announcement marks the third date provided by the government for the launch of the service.

The initial target was July, but when the service failed to begin in the first week of that month, Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen revised the start date to mid-August. The service has yet to begin, and the government has not released any further information.

An official from the Transport Ministry had earlier said there were no significant details available regarding the launch and that it was difficult to provide a date.

The government has assigned the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) to operate the taxi service in the GMR, handing over the project in February.

Minister Ameen earlier said substantial work was required before the service could begin and that importing the cars alone would not be sufficient. Production work for the taxi line was said to be scheduled for June.

However, at Monday’s ceremony, the president said production work is still ongoing. This means the work that was expected to begin in June remains incomplete. In the first phase, the government tasked MTCC with procuring 100 cars, a project funded by the state.

Car manufacturers estimate that producing 100 electric vehicles to specific requirements takes between 100 and 200 days. If production indeed began in June as claimed, the vehicles should have been completed and modified to the government’s specifications by the end of October. Despite this, the president stated that the cars remain in production.