Newly completed land expansion projects in southernmost Addu City, have been commemorated.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih inaugurated the newly completed projects initiated under his administration, as part of his campaign tour across the atoll, in a bid for re-election in this year’s Presidential election, slated for Saturday.

These projects marked a significant milestone in the development of Addu City.

The expansion projects were wrapped up in Hithadhoo district, Maradhoo district and Maradhoo-Feydhoo district of the southernmost city.

These also marked three islands earmarked for tourism development and the Hankede area and mirrors the initial steps towards transforming Addu into a vibrant global city.

President Solih’s visit to Addu mirrors his commitment to this vision.

The Ministry of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure earlier this week, revealed that the project was wrapped up in August. The physical work for the project commenced in June.

A total of 228 hectares of land were reclaimed under the scope of the project, including 76 hectares from Maradhoo and Maradhoo-Feydhoo and 80 from Hithadhoo.

The Addu land reclamation project was contracted to Van Oord Dredging of Netherlands and was carried out under an USD 800 million line of credit facility from India’s Exim Bank.

According to the planning ministry, 75 percent of the project has been completed and currently being carried out is the process of shore protection on the reclaimed areas.

The project aimed to add 190 hectares of land to the three districts.

The land reclamation project was initiated with the purpose of developing resorts, carrying out housing projects and for business purposes.

Further, 25 hectares were reclaimed, of which 8.3 hectares will be allocated each for three islands being developed as resorts, and an additional 4.72 hectares of land reclaimed in Hankede.

As the islands approved for resort development will be opened for bidding soon, Addu City council has already approved the names of these islands; ‘Bolihera’, ‘Dhondheenihera’ and ‘Dhonhera’.

The incumbent administration remains committed to develop Addu as a regional economic hub and the development vision revolves around land expansion, construction of 124 kilometers of roads as well as the modernization of Addu International Airport to accommodate 1.5 million tourists annually.

These initiatives mirror a significant investment in the future growth and prosperity of Addu City.

President Solih has been officially inaugurating several development initiatives that have been completed across the scatter of islands comprising the Maldives, as part of his campaign tours.

The incumbent administration has made significant strides towards the equitable development of all inhabited islands nationwide without discrimination, under the able leadership of President Solih.