The final list of recipients of flats under the Gedhoruveriya scheme will be made public before the end of October, Housing Minister Dr. Ali Haidar has said.
Responding to questions from MPs after he was summoned to the Parliament’s Petition Committee, Haidar said that the Housing Ministry is trying to compile a final list of recipients before construction of flats under the Gedhoruveriya scheme is completed.
“We will announce all the chosen people and gazette the final list before the construction is done, okay. As I’ve learned, the first six towers out of 32 towers will be finished by the end of October. We will publish the final list by then,” Haidar said.
Haidar said he does not intend to cancel the flats list announced by the previous government. But whether the recipients in the final list are truly deserving of flats will be verified, Haidar said.
“We will ensure as much as possible that we will be handing over these flats to those deserving of it. If it is given to those most in need, I think there won’t be problems of renting and not living there. We will verify that. By the ministry,” Haidar said.
The living conditions of applicants will also be considered when the final list of recipients is compiled, Haidar said. But it will be done after checking officially available documents, Haidar said.
“The evaluation work will be carried out by forming a team from within us, okay. We will consult with the flat committee to resolve problems faced in forming the team,” Haidar said.
Haidar said the Customs flats in the first 4,000 flats to be handed over under the Gedhoruveriya scheme do not exist. The 100 flats to be provided to Customs had not been mentioned when the previous government announced the first 4,000 flats, Haidar said.
The Male’ city council advised the Housing Ministry two weeks ago to hand over flats as soon as possible to recipients with no issues in their applications for the flats announced by the previous government under the Gedhoruveriya scheme.
Last week, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu announced plans to start issuing housing loans of up to MVR 6 million with interest rates capped at five percent.
The previous government decided that 15,046 applicants to the Gedhoruveriya scheme were eligible for housing. The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government decided to hand over flats to all eligible applicants. But only 4,000 flats had been contracted and under construction when the MDP administration ended.
After the government decided to hand over the first 4,000 flats to the applicants who scored the highest points, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) halted the process due to a complaint. The ACC authorised the process to resume on February 1 after investigating the complaint upon gaining access to the portal created for the scheme.
