Hiyaa flats will be habitable in about eight months: Aslam

The Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, Mohamed Aslam has revealed that work on the flats under the “Hiyaa” housing scheme will be completed and they will be habitable after about eight months.

Minister Aslam, along with other senior officials at the ministry as well as the former Housing Minister Dr. Mohamed Muizzu were summoned to the People’s Majlis Committee on National Development and Heritage for questioning regarding the housing units built under the former administration’s “Hiyaa” housing scheme.

When inquired about the ministry’s work to hand over the flats to recipients, Aslam cited the committee tasked with looking into the work being carried out under the project, having stated that a list of recipients will be publicized at month-end.

Shedding light on the work currently underway, the minister noted that there is essential work to be completed before the units can be handed over to the recipients.

As such, just the flooring work alone will take about two months to complete, said the minister.

China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited was tasked with the construction of 16 25-story towers under the “Hiyaa” scheme. An agreement was signed between the state and the company on July 20, 2016, to complete the project within two years. The construction work under the project commenced on December 19, 2017. The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) recently revealed that 90 percent of the project has been completed.

The government of Maldives conducted the project after acquiring a loan of USD 434 million. While the ‘Hiyaa’ project was initially launched to provide 7,000 housing units, the government has since decided to issue 6,720 flats to the people.

This is because the ground floors of the towers are to be used to run shops, for security purposes as well as waste maintenance and administrative work.

The project drew public criticism, after photos and videos of what the apartments look like on the inside, began circulating among the people. Some citizens have voiced concern over the additional expenses as well as inadequate spaces at the flats. Recipients of the flats are required to lay tiles, install doors, ceiling fans as well as lights, electrical wiring and TV cables themselves.