Minister: Population under 500 in 55 islands; relocation necessary to provide services

Housing Minister Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed said on Saturday there are 55 islands in the Maldives with a population of less than 500 people, adding that relocating people from islands with small populations to more densely populated areas is necessary to ensure that all Maldivian citizens have access to the services they need.

He made the remarks in an interview to Public Service Media (PSM) on Saturday evening.

Haidar said there are 186 inhabited islands outside of the capital, Male’, out of which 55 islands have a population of less than 500 people.

He said that there’s difficulty in properly providing even essential services to small populations.

Haidar believes that concentrating on specific islands instead of developing islands with small populations, will be a more effective solution to reducing reliance on Male’ for services.

He said that this is the key goal of the administration’s initiative to establish urban centers in seven islands outside Male’.

“…This will benefit the entire society. The people will not need to travel to Male’ every time to access services. This will create a mechanism where people can have closer access to all services. This is the main goal; to establish urban centers and bring in focused investments to islands,” he said.

The establishment of seven urban centers is a key component of the incumbent administration’s manifesto; three urban centers to the north of Male’, and four to the south.

Ahead of his interview to PSM, the Housing Ministry had announced that the urban centers will be developed in R. Ungoofaaru, B. Eydhafushi, Lh. Naifaru, ADh. Mahibadhoo, F. Nilandhoo, Dh. Kudahuvadhoo and L. Fonadhoo.

 Haidar said that the islands were selected after considering the existing infrastructure, including healthcare and education, and the potential for further growth.

Haidar said the seven urban centers will be developed in central Maldives, and that areas in northern and southern Maldives will be developed as urban regions. He said that the regions will be developed to accommodate at least 100,000 people, adding that it would be hard to provide quality services otherwise.

“This initiative will start within five years, and I believe it will take some time until the population can reach 100,000. Because there are currently 50,000 people living in the southern region. And there are some 55,000 people living in the north. It will therefore be a bit hard to provide services of the highest quality unless the population can be increased to 100,000,” he said.

Haidar said the administration plans to develop urban regions in the north and south to the same standard as Male’, and thereby increase the heavily reliance on the capital to access services.