HDC to allocate land plots for garages

One of the biggest safety threats posed in such a crowded and densely populated area as Male‘ city has always been the existence of garages used to carry out industrial work.

With apartments being constructed in order to accommodate the increasing population, one look at a residential building in Male’ City will tell you everything about the lack of safety in the buildings and apartments. Lack of fire exits and windows as well as ventilation spaces are a norm for apartments that are not built for high-end residential areas.

And with the increased number of fire incidents taking place in the Maldives, many have started giving thought to the safety of their own homes and buildings and the lack of safety that exists in their buildings in case an incident occurs.

One of the biggest eye-openers to the lack of safety and poorly located garages was the fire incident that took place on 10th November 2022, taking the lives of 10 foreign workers in the Maldives. Following this incident, the public outrage surrounding poorly located garages as well as poorly constructed housing started getting voiced out across all media platforms, with some people even posting pictures of garages carrying out industrial work near their own homes stating that one ignition could lead to a similar incident occurring in their own homes.

And while there was little to be done regarding the poorly constructed housing in a short span of time, the Government has finally heard the pleas of the citizens regarding industrial garages being located in residential areas as they started the process of relocating garages soon after the fire incident took place on 10th of November 2022.

In December 2022, Hulhumale’ Development Corporation (HDC) opened up the application process for 23 plots for the relocation of garages that carry out industrial work in Hulhumale’. HDC has revealed that this application process got overwhelming support from garage owners as over 200 people applied for the 23 plots that were opened up in December.

The 23 land plots being given out are of different sizes, with land plots of 1,000 square feet and 1,300 square feet and garages built on these land plots may be constructed to two floors.

With these land plots for garages expected to be handed over by March 2023, many are hoping that garages can finally be moved to an industrial area, decreasing the possibility of extreme fire hazards occurring in residential areas in Male’ City.