The building of a rock boulder revetment, aimed at reinforcing and protecting the reclaimed area at Gulhifalhu, has begun.
The MVR 2 billion project, being carried out by Royal Boskalis and Van Oord of the Netherlands, will see 235 hectares of land reclaimed at Gulhifalhu. This will include the 150 hectares initially contracted by the previous administration and the additional 85 hectares contracted by the current administration.
While a total of 18 million cubic metres of sand is planned to be shifted under the project, 16.9 million cubic meters have already been banked, with the Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure confirming that the land reclamation, including shore protection of the reclaimed area, will be completed by August.
The project was launched on 2 July 2023 by the Ibrahim Mohamed Solih administration when it was decided that 2,218 plots of land would be provided, as social housing, for residents of Malé.
The Solih administration had planned to allocate housing and to transfer the Malé Commercial Harbour project to Gulhifalhu. However, upon taking office, President Mohamed Muizzu decided to relocate the port project to Thilafushi, and as a result more than 3,000 plots will become available at Gulhifalhu.
Gulhifalhu is located four kilometres from Malé and reclamation was first initiated at the location in 2010 during the Mohamed Nasheed administration, with the objective of creating a residential community in the area. Flats were built, and the properties were awarded. However, once the Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom administration came into office, the project was scrapped —a decision which was reversed again when the Solih administration, which followed, decided to reclaim land at Gulhifalhu once again.
