President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih pledged to expand the harbor and airport of the geographically isolated Fuvahmulah city if re-elected for a second term.
Difficult access to the island has been a longstanding problem for Fuvahmulah, which lies in a separate atoll. A harbor was built and officially opened in 2003. But it has not been expanded since then and space constraints have been faced as the population and economic activity increased.
Addressing supporters on Sunday night, the president made several pledges for the island. Studies needed to expand the harbor have started, he said.
"Our thinking is to find out how the harbor could be expanded as the people of this island wishes and to do it. Those studies are happening now under Minister [Mohamed] Aslam's supervision. God willing, you will see this island's harbor expanded in the coming term," the president said.
Fuvahmulah's popularity as a tourist destination has also been growing. The island's airport has not been developed further since Fuvahmulah was connected by air in November 2011.
"The harbor has become too small. The airport has become too small. During the upcoming term, we will look into and study how much the airport could be further expanded and we will expand it enough for the ATR used by Island Aviation to be able to land," the president pledged last night.
Ongoing projects in Fuvahmulah city are being carried out in line with the wishes of the council and the public, he said.
"What this city needs was proposed by the Fuvahmulah council, the Fuvahmulah people. We will complete our work after building all the roads needed on this island. God willing, the beach erosion problem is being solved. The sewerage system's problem has been solved. The water system has been improved," he said.
He also pledged to develop a synthetic track, a stadium and an indoor sports complex in Fuvahmulah if re-elected for a second term.
The president said the government would create more job opportunities and facilitate the relocation of people who want to return to the island.
"[People do not live on the island] because of the narrow opportunities for starting a life and working a job. We started to change some government offices to this island to find a solution to that. The work of some government offices will be changed to this island in the future as well. We will develop a multi-purpose office complex on this island," the president said.
The president reiterated his plea for stability in order to carry out the developmental projects. He also vowed to win the election in one round with the experience and backing of the coalition.
