Minister: Tentative list will be released next week; flats handed over by year’s end

Housing Minister Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed said on Saturday that the tentative list of the recipients of the first 4,000 housing units under the ‘Gedhoruveriya’ scheme will be released next week, and the flats will be handed over before the end of this year.

The 4,000 units are being developed in Hulhumale’ Phase II by the Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC). It is the first of housing units being built under the ‘Gedhoruveriya’ scheme, a social housing project launched by the former administration.

The list of recipients of the flats, which was released during the last days of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) administration, was the subject of an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The corruption watchdog ordered for the suspension of the issuance of flats, before finally giving the Housing Ministry the go-ahead to proceed in February.

The Housing Ministry has been reviewing the list in the eight months since.

In an interview to PSM on Saturday evening, Haidar said that the Housing Ministry is re-evaluating 20,679 applications submitted for the 4,000 flats.

He said that the Housing Ministry will finish the process, and release the tentative list of recipients and simultaneously open it for complaints in the coming week.

Haidar had previously told a parliamentary committee in July that the list will be released in October. But on October 28, the Housing Ministry released a statement saying it needs more time to finish re-evaluating all the application forms.

The ministry said it was working on releasing the list “before the end of the second week of November this year.”

The government has come under mounting pressure over the delay in the handover of flats under the ‘Gedhoruveriya’ scheme, sparking serial protests in Male’.

The original list of recipients of the first 4,000 units received some 325 complaints. The ACC, which investigated the complaints, found that 59.6 percent of the recipients did not meet the eligibility criteria.

During his 2023 presidential campaign, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu said that he would not make any changes to the list, and would ensure that it is handed over to all rightful recipients.

FDC’s Managing Director Hamdan Shakeel told Sun in September that said the corporation expects to complete the project and finish handing over the last of the units before the end of July next year.