Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam has stated selling land from large islands to people from other islands can be an important source of revenue for islands.
Speaking at the Parliament of the Maldives, Housing Minister Aslam said islands with a large land area can utilise its land resources to generate revenue by allowing plots to be bought by people from other islands. The minister said the availability of land in islands and the base rate at which land can be sold have already been identified. He noted President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has also advised to seek the opinion of the Parliament and local councils regarding the sale of land from large islands. In response, Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed stated the parliament will deliberate on the matter before going into recess.
Several land reclamation projects are currently ongoing aimed at resolving issues related to scarcity of land. The State Budget for 2021 also includes an amount of USD 66.7 million for land reclamation and road development projects across the country.