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Saturday 21 Dec 2024
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
Minister of Housing Dr. Ali Haidar (L) with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu: according to the minister, the urban centers will usher in an era of relocation from Male' area. (Photo: President's Office)
According to the Minister of Housing Dr. Ali Haidar, the completion of urban centers in the planned locations across the Maldives will usher in an era of relocation.
The minister said that the completion of these centers will result in many migrants living in Male' region returning back to their home atolls.
In an interview with 'Sun' Online on the occasion of the current administration's first year anniversary, the minister said the government has conducted significant research into solving the housing crisis Maldives faces.
He said that many of the islands are challenged with lack of sufficient land for housing.
The minister opined the most feasible solution for the issue is for smaller populations to migrate to larger islands with sufficient land areas.
"According to our research, a well-rounded solution to housing is not possible without relocation efforts," Haidar commented in his interview.
Haidar said their research showed that 55 islands out of 186 local islands outside of Male' region had a population of less 500 in each of them, while only three islands outside of Male' area had a population of over 5,000 people.
The minister said failure to relocate smaller populations to larger areas will impede their economic progression, and highlighted larger populations would pave way for better commerce and trade, education, health and recreation.
"Provision of services is not possible without demand, otherwise the price of service per capita would be greatly inflated. So, we believe relocation is the best option in solving housing," Haidar added.
The minister further said the government is geared to launch a regional development program, under which two regions - one in south and other in north - with a population capacity of 100,000 in each would be developed.
Besides this, the plan also involves development of urban centers with population capacity of 10,000 in each of them.
He emphasized on the socio-economic benefits of the program, including easier accessibility to basic services, elimination of inter-atoll transportation for these services and the subsequent loss of time.
"Instead, when these smaller populations are relocated to urban centers, they are no longer required to visit Male' area for basic services, which would be available at exceptional quality from these centers," Haidar added.
Out of the total of population of 400,000 citizens, 40 percent are living in Male' region with many of them originating from these planned urban center areas.
"So, we believe once these centers get completed it would bring about a wave of relocation back to these areas," the minister added.
Earlier on November 9th, the government announced the seven islands where urban centers will be developed according to the pledge of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. The islands are:
Besides the seven centers, President Muizzu earlier revealed two integrated zones will be developed; one in south and another in north.
A bill regarding the development of these centers has been proposed to the parliament already, which is currently in committee stage. The bill is reviewed by the Joint Committee of Committee on National Development And Heritage and Committee on Decentralization.
Meanwhile, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have been raising concerns about the bill, claiming the enactment of the bill will depower council bodies and regress Maldives' administration to the previous model where 'Kateebs' (public representatives) were appointed in each residential island.
