The Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure has begun issuing plots of land after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) gave it the green light on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Housing Minister Dr. Mohamed Muizzu stated that the ministry had halted issuing and accepting forms upon ACC’s order to do so on Monday temporarily but that the ministry has begun issuing the forms again, following the approval from ACC on Tuesday.

Dr. Muizzu has stated that 1,000 square feet of land will be issued per plot with each square foot priced at MVR 400. At this rate, each plot of land comes with a price tag of MVR 400,000.

On Tuesday, ACC had informed the ministry to comprise a new policy under which land will be allocated for applicants.

The ministry in the press conference announced that 400 plots of land will be issued. As such, plots measuring 1,000 square feet will be issued for a price of MVR 400 for each square foot after which they will be conducting a draw to allocate lands for applicants on Saturday after completing the required administrative work.

ACC has ordered the ministry to conduct thorough evaluations and to follow due procedure before publicizing the final list.

Noting that the President’s Office had via a letter, informed the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) that the plots of land allocated for construction work in the Phase II area will also be included in the plots of land to be issued under the government housing project, ACC stated that the motive of issuing plots of land in the region is to bring a solution to the cashflow issue in HDC, as such, the economic and youth council had decided to sell 400 plots of land to the residents of capital city Male’ who face the issue of housing the most, for prices ranging between MVR 300 and MVR 400 per square foot.

The commission further reveals their decision to open plots of land from the beach-front region for bidding, with a starting rate of MVR 2,000. As such, 100 plots of land will be opened for bidding.

Moreover, the economic and youth council had decided that the ministry will be determining to whom the social housing plots will be sold, under the new policy to be comprised by the ministry.

Land under social housing will be issued after the HDC’s board of directors decide on the matter and hands the process over to the housing ministry after deliberation.

With this having been decided, ACC informed the ministry to comprise a new policy on the allocation of plots of land to applicants, as well as to give an adequate deadline for applicants, as soon as possible.