Muththalib has said Giraavaru Lagoon is unsuitable for habitation, and a lottery for plot recipients will be held in January with handover within six months. President Muizzu pledged all citizens will have land or homes within five years.
Work on the reclamation of Giraavaru Lagoon (file photo)
In a move that has detached from President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s initial pledge to allocate land plots from their originally designated locations and sizes, the government has decided to transfer 1,114 plots initially planned for Giraavaru Lagoon to Gulhifalhu.
The decision to relocate the plots was announced by Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure Dr. Abdulla Muththalib, at a press conference held at the President’s Office on Sunday. The minister said that work on transferring the plots is currently underway.
This decision by the Muizzu administration follows actions taken by the previous administration under Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, which had designated 5,186 plots from Giraavaru Lagoon and had already informed recipients of their allocations.
The current government has since revised the land use plan for Giraavaru Lagoon, reducing the total number of plots by 4,072. Muththalib said the amended plan is ready to be gazetted. He explained that the decision to transfer the plots to Gulhifalhu was taken because Giraavaru Lagoon is not presently considered suitable for establishing a proper living environment.
Under the former government, a decision had been made to reclaim 160 hectares of land from Giraavaru Lagoon for housing plots. By the time the administration changed, more than 50 hectares had already been reclaimed.
Muththalib said a lottery for recipients of plots from Giraavaru Lagoon, where reclamation work is currently halted, will be held in January. He said the plots would be handed over within the next six months. He also stated that the stalled reclamation work would resume after the completion of the reclamation of Hulhumalé Phase III, and that plot registries would be issued progressively as reclamation work is finalized.
Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration had originally planned to allocate a total of 9,000 plots from Hulhumalé Phase II, the newly reclaimed Hulhumalé Phase III, Gulhifalhu, and Giraavaru Lagoon.
On 20 April 2025, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu visited Gulhifalhu, Giraavaru Lagoon, and Hulhumalé Phase III to inspect the progress of reclamation projects. During the visit, he said the pace of all projects would be accelerated. He noted that reclamation work for the remaining 113 hectares of Giraavaru Lagoon had commenced that day and pledged that it would be completed within a maximum of 10 months. He also announced that road construction and the installation of water and electricity systems in the reclaimed Giraavaru Lagoon area would begin in July, after the work was contracted to a suitable party.
Following the site inspections, Muizzu stated that projects intended to benefit the Maldivian people should proceed at a much faster pace, deliver improved outcomes, and become successful initiatives.
On the same occasion, Muizzu also stated that no citizen, including residents of Malé City, would be without a plot of land or a home within five years.
