Residents of homes near the site where the government is controversially building an airport in Kulhudhuffushi island of Haa Dhaal atoll have been asked to vacate.

One such resident, who spoke to RaajjeMV under the condition of anonymity, said that they were all given a five-day notice to vacate, starting Sunday.

The resident, who is a member of one of 18 households in the area, said that the government told them they will be given MVR 10,000 each month for temporary accommodation.

While the government is providing eight-month rent fees for these residents, they were first told that the funds will be given 'at once'.

Hence members of the island’s local government council and other residents have expressed concern over the process through which these properties were given and the pricing system used by the state. 

Abdul Latheef, president of the island council, said that the pricing system for these homes are unjust and ‘do not follow any logic or legitimate values’.

Latheef himself said that the government has just taken away the homes of residents and given them properties that do not truly match up to the ones that are to be vacated.

In addition, while the government will be giving properties as compensation for their lost homes, the residents have expressed concern over the process in which it was done.

The controversial project was announced in 2017 and the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company has destroyed mangroves to make way for the airport’s development site.

The Maldives Democracy Network and local NGO EcoCare have condemned the ‘careless’ destruction of the mangroves. Several hectares of land need to be reclaimed for the project.  

The white clay mangroves, said to be the largest of their kind in the Maldives, are home to endangered species and serve as a natural defence system against tsunamis.