Urban project approaches, a reason for floods: Minister

Minister of Cities, Local Government and Public Works Adam Shareef Umar has said floods in local islands are caused owing to the faulty approaches in urbanization.

The minister said this after a few islands reported various flood cases owing to the recent rain in Maldives, while families from six families in K. Guraidhoo shifted to temporary shelter due to flood damages.

In a press briefing held Thursday, the minister highlighted damages reported from K. Maafushi, Sh. Foakaidhoo, and K. Guraidhoo.

"Teams from the ministry visited Maafushi and Guraidhoo, and we observed significant property damages, especially cases related to flooding, sewerage and spread of waste to the residences because of it," the minister said.

Speaking about this, the minister said that faulty urbanization approaches were at the root of these issues.

He highlighted that several key and crucial components in land reclamation projects have been omitted in the past, which leads to issues later.

"For instance covering up a creek, where one should be present, has led to difficulties for the island's locals. I believe that we need to take these factors into consideration in future," Minister Adam Shareef said.

At Thursday's press briefing, the minister further confirmed assigning Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) to solve the flooding issue in Male' City, and added the authority was working on a temporary solution right now.