Housing Minister Abdulla Muththalib announced yesterday that the project to modernise the Addu City Link Road and other major roads will be reassigned to a new contractor, as the Road Development Corporation (RDC) has been unable to proceed with the work.
Speaking at the PNC Congress, Muththalib stated that despite efforts to facilitate the project by procuring machinery, RDC faced challenges in execution. The project is now set to be awarded to a company under a contractor-financing model by next week at the latest.
"We tried to initiate the work by assigning it to RDC, but given the current state of the corporation, it did not prove easy. Even with the acquisition of machinery, we could not find a direct path to move forward with them," Muththalib explained during his presentation at the congress.
"Therefore, we are now working to finalize this within the week. By next week at the latest, we will hand over the project to a contractor capable of executing the work at a fast pace under a contractor-financing arrangement. It will be awarded to a very competent contractor," he added.
The Minister noted that the goal is to commence physical works on the Addu roads before the end of next month, with the highest priority given to repairing the damaged sections of the Link Road. He detailed that the Link Road will be expanded to four lanes and asphalted before proceeding with sidewalk construction.
"Once handed over, God willing, we aim to start physical work before the end of next month. Our focus will be the Link Road. This means transforming the damaged sections into four lanes, asphalting them, and ensuring the rest of the road is properly paved. Sidewalk construction will follow. The Link Road remains our top priority," Muththalib said.
The project to develop the Addu Link Road and other key roads was mentioned in President Mohamed Muizzu’s Presidential Address on February 5, 2025, with a commitment to start within the year. It was awarded to RDC on April 8, 2025; however, the project failed to commence by the end of the year.
"The work to develop the Addu Link Road and other roads to a high standard will begin this year," Muizzu had stated in last year’s Presidential Address.
The project was awarded to RDC for MVR 829 million, with a completion timeline of 11 months. The scope included asphalting 67.58 kilometres of roads with Cement Treated Base (CTB), establishing a drainage system in Feydhoo, and installing road markings and signage.
The government has not yet disclosed which company will take over the project under the contractor-financing model. Public criticism of the government has been mounting due to the severely dilapidated state of large sections of the Addu Link Road.
