The Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Dr Abdulla Muththalib, has affirmed that the government will not halt any ongoing infrastructure development projects despite significant economic headwinds caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
Instead, the administration's focus, according to Minister Muththalib, is on implementing strategic measures to reduce costs and manage timelines effectively.
Addressing a press conference at the President’s Office, Minister Muththalib outlined the challenges facing the construction sector, citing severe delays and spiraling prices triggered by the conflict. A primary concern is the doubling of oil prices, which has directly impacted fuel-intensive activities crucial for national development, particularly dredging and harbour development.
“Right now, our goal is to implement projects as cost-effectively as possible,” the Minister explained.
He clarified that while adjustments to project schedules are being made, the government has no intention of stopping work on vital infrastructure across the country. He emphasised that the government’s top priority remains ensuring citizens have uninterrupted access to basic necessities, with measures in place to manage the availability and pricing of essential commodities.
To mitigate the sector-wide difficulties, the Cabinet has discussed solutions to ensure the continuous availability of construction material. This includes a strategic pivot to diversify import sources, with the Maldives increasing the number of countries from which it imports material and establishing additional shipping routes.
Minister Muththalib also revealed that the landmark Rasmale' land reclamation project—the largest of its kind in the Maldives—has now surpassed the 50 percent completion mark for its dredging phase. With 504 hectares of a planned 1009 hectares already dredged, progress is substantial.
“That’s almost the same amount of land in the two phases of Hulhumale'. The rest is under dredging,” he said, offering a sense of scale for the project's enormity.
He added that master planning, land use planning, and technical works are proceeding in parallel.
To accelerate progress, the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), which was awarded the contract to expedite works, has deployed one of the world’s largest dredgers, the Cristabal Colon. This vessel, with a massive capacity of 46,000 cubic metres of sand per load, is instrumental in maintaining momentum on the critical project, which officially commenced on 18 December 2023.