The cost of the Fushidhiggaru lagoon reclamation project is unclear and a financing plan has not been made yet, Housing Minister Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed has said.
Fushidhiggaru reclamation is the largest project among President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's ambitious pledges to provide housing.
Haidar was summoned to Parliament's national development and heritage committee on Monday and questioned by MPs regarding his remarks last week about the previous government's housing projects.
It became clear from Haidar's answers that no aspect of the project has been finalized yet.
Asked by an MP for an estimate of the expenditure from the state budget over the next five years on the current government's signature Fushidhiggaru project, Haidar said the project could be launched if the MVR 400 million proposed in the budget is approved. But the government has not yet estimated the cost of the project over five years, he said.
"We haven't yet calculated how much would be spent over five years," Haidar said.
At the request of the government, MVR 400 million was allocated in next year's budget for the Fushidhiggaru land reclamation. But the funding remains uncertain as the proposed budget has not been passed yet.
In response to questions from MPs about financing the project amid record levels of public debt, the minister said funds could be arranged from the budget and secured through other means as well. Foreign grant aid and the budgets for other projects could be reallocated, he suggested.
"We can get funds from foreign parties. We can arrange for funding from other government projects as well. It will go ahead after arranging financing and everything else," Haidar said.
Haidar said repeatedly at the committee that Fushidhiggaru's land use plan has been made.
But when an MP asked whether the environment impact assessment (EIA) has been completed, the minister said the process was ongoing. As such, the land use plan has not been passed yet, he added.
According to the law, the EIA process must be completed before approving a land use plan.
Despite the minister's admissions, President Muizzu said in his inaugural address that most documentation needed for the Fushidhiggaru project has been completed and that modern new cities would emerge from the country's lagoons in the near future.
