Shifau: Ihavandhoo land reclamation has had bitter consequences

Former Member of Parliament for the Ihavandhoo constituency, Mohamed Shifau, has stated that the consequences of the President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu administration’s decision to extract sand from the Ihavandhoo lagoon for a reclamation project have been disastrous, leading to severe erosion across the entire island.

Speaking on RaajjeTV’s "Vaudhunaama" program, former Member of Parliament Shifau highlighted that numerous development projects were successfully executed and completed in Ihavandhoo during the administration of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

He noted that a youth center was established and a turf football pitch was developed and handed over to the youth. Furthermore, he highlighted that the construction of a new Fenaka office building has significantly enhanced the quality of services provided to the public. He also stated that the harbor has been expanded and upgraded to modern standards.

Referring to the Ihavandhoo land reclamation project, Shifau stated that 90 percent of the work had been completed by the end of President Solih's administration. However, he noted that following the change in government, physical work on the project came to a standstill. He further explained that because the project was halted without installing the necessary revetments, a significant portion of the newly reclaimed area has since eroded away.

However, he noted that President Muizzu’s administration extracted sand from the island’s own lagoon to reclaim land ahead of the parliamentary elections. He warned that the consequences of this action are now being felt, adding that dredging an island's own lagoon for land reclamation is an unprecedented practice.

He stated that the entire island is currently experiencing severe erosion because the project was carried out in violation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report. He further noted that even the newly reclaimed land is now washing away, while the project remains incomplete.

Approximately two hectares of sand have already been washed away from the 100-meter stretch where the revetment remains unfinished. This administration’s actions leading up to the parliamentary elections were driven by two motives: firstly, to claim credit for completing the land reclamation, and secondly, to allow MTCC to finalize the project billing and collect payment from the government. To achieve this, they extracted sand from the island's own lagoon and deposited it into that area. To this day, the greatest grievance for the people of Ihavandhoo remains the fact that sand was taken from the island's lagoon to fill the erosion-prone areas, a decision that has now caused the entire island to suffer from accelerated erosion.

Mohamed Shifau, the former Member of Parliament for the Ihavandhoo constituency.

Furthermore, Shifau stated that the previous administration had contracted MTCC to establish a fish processing factory and a dedicated fishing harbor in Ihavandhoo. He noted that although the current government laid the foundation stones for these projects just ahead of the parliamentary elections, no practical work has been carried out to date.