Land reclamation in Hulhumale' Phase Three, which began last year under plans to provide land plots to the natives of Male', has been suspended again.

The project was launched after changing the masterplan of Hulhumale' to reclaim a total area of 63 hectares. The project has been suspended many times before.

However, the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) announced in June that the reclamation had resumed.

Comparing photos and videos shared by HDC in June and satellite images taken yesterday, a very small area was reclaimed over the past two months.

That area was reclaimed in the last week of June and the work had been stalled since the end of June.

At the time, HDC said the remaining 40 hectares of the 63 hectares of land would be reclaimed. HDC has not disclosed a reason for suspending the project.

Area to be reclaimed in Phase Three.

The project was awarded to Capital Marine and Civil Construction Company (CMC) and the reclamation work was handed over to Boskalis of the Netherlands.

Boskalis had been using the dredger Willem van Oranje for the project and the Prins der Nederlanden dredger was brought to the Maldives in April to speed up the work.

However, neither of these dredgers is currently in the Maldives. According to vessel tracking tools, Willem van Oranje is in South Korea while Prins der Nederlanden is in the Philippines.

Satellite image taken yesterday. -- Photo: Sentinel-2

The reclamation project of Hulhumale' Phase Three was launched on September 22, 2023. The project came to a brief pause and was relaunched by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's administration in January.

At the time, political appointees toured the project site and posted photo and video updates on social media. However, the work did not proceed as planned.

The second dredger was brought to speed up the project after resuming the reclamation work.

The project was halted again until June 10 after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered the work to be suspended due to coral bleaching.

After that, HDC announced the resumption of work on June 24.

The project, valued at about USD 268 million (MVR 3.9 billion), includes the reclamation of Hulhumale' Phase Three, Dhiyaneru lagoon for a yacht marina and Thilafushi.

The land to be reclaimed in Thilafushi has been awarded to CMC for 99 years with development rights as payment for the project.

The rest of the funding is arranged through a 10-hectare land from Hulhumale' given to CMC for 99 years and a USD 20 million dollar advance.