Hulhudhoo 100 Housing Units: Minister Muththalib says tender was canceled due to lack of qualified bidders

The Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development Dr. Abdulla Muththalib, has stated that the construction of 100 housing units in Hulhudhoo, Addu City, has stalled because no qualified companies submitted bids when the project was opened for tender.

Minister Muththalib attended Monday's People's Majlis sitting to respond to questions submitted by the Member of Parliament for the Kendhoo constituency.

During the opportunity for supplementary questions, Member for Hulhudhoo constituency, Mohamed Shahid, questioned why the 100 housing units for Hulhudhoo were missing from the government's recently announced list of housing projects. He further noted that the construction of these 100 housing units was a pledge made by President Muizzu.

In response to the inquiry, Minister Muththalib stated that although an announcement was previously made to develop housing units across 57 islands, the tender failed to attract companies with sufficient capacity. Consequently, the Ministry of Finance has officially canceled the entire bidding process.

Minister Muththalib stated that the government explored the possibility of implementing the housing project through an end-user financing model.

"Under our current policy, if a property is purchased under the first-time homebuyer scheme, it must be sold for 1.5 million Rufiyaa. The government will provide 250,000 Rufiyaa as equity for those buyers. We have announced projects in several islands to gauge whether local developers have the capacity to operate within such a model, supported by government assistance."

Dr. Abdulla Muththalib

Furthermore, Minister Muththalib stated that construction is an undertaking that involves significant expenditure.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's administration has announced plans to launch housing projects across 57 islands in January 2025.