Political meddling has made a mess out of providing any sort of adequate solution for the housing crisis facing the Greater Malé region.
Source: Pexels - Asad Photo Maldives
President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in 1997, initiated the reclamation of the Hulhulé Farukolhufushi Lagoon (HFL) next to the Hulhulé Airport, and after five years, in 2002, completed the Phase I reclamation and costal development, which became known as Hulhumalé. The development was initially mandated to the government body known as the Hulhumalé Development Unit (HDU), and the ownership of HFL was also transferred to HDU.
Later in 2005, HDU was incorporated as Hulhumalé Development Corporation Limited (HDC), and was mandated with undertaking housing development projects in Hulhumalé.
It took another seven years, for the first major social housing development project to be completed, when in 2012, 1,000 social housing units were completed.
Under the Yameen administration, in 2015, an additional 240 hectares of land was reclaimed, creating the Phase II of Hulhumalé. By 2016, the landmark 7,000 social housing units development project was initiated with a USD360 million loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and a USD65 million loan from Credit Suisse AG.
A further USD159 million loan was taken from China Development Bank (CDB), for a 1,530 housing units project.
Meanwhile, in 2017 the Hulhulé – Hulhumalé Link road project was also initiated, in time for the opening of the Sinamalé Bridge, connecting the road network of Hulhumalé to Malé.
What started as the Hulhumalé Development Corporation has now been renamed the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), and the President’s Office, Ministry of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Economic Development have regulatory roles, and act as key regulators of HDC. Further, as the company is 100 percent owned by the Government, the Ministry of Finance presents as the share holder of the company, and hence has oversight over the affairs of the company.
As such, the Ministry of Finance has provided a sovereign guarantee for the USD796 million in loans availed by the HDC, including the 7,000 social housing units project loan. In fact, around 82 percent of HDC’s total debt as of November 2020 has been guaranteed by the government.
Hulhumalé, the biggest strategic large-scale development in the Maldives, covers 188 hectares of land in Phase I, and 240 hectares in Phase II. Upon completion of major infrastructures and the residential, and commercial, developments as planned, both phase I and phase II can house a population of 210,000 which is almost half the country's current population.
The connectivity of Gulhufalhu and Thilafushi, via the planned bridge, will bring in scale and further economic benefits to the Greater Malé area. The Government has unveiled a UD488 million project that involves relocating the commercial harbour from Malé to Gulhifalhu, and shifting of warehouses to Thilafushi. The 6.7 kilometre bridge connecting Malé, Villimalé, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi is expected to strengthen the accessibility of industries, create synergies and increase economic activity in the area.
With the initial groundwork laid in 1997 in terms of getting the Hulhumalé project off the ground, the HDC, the President’s Office, the Planning and Housing, and Economic Development Ministries, and the Ministry of Finance, all state institutions with technical staff and permanent civil servants should exhibit the urgency and the capacity to see long term goals addressed and completed — this is not to say that changes should not be made. Designs, engineering, and other technical aspects should be discussed, debated and decided by the technical teams, not to the whims of any given politician in the moment and certainly not to score political points at the expense of an expectant population facing a housing crisis; a population that has been promised all sorts of solutions for their dire needs through a revolving door of administrations.
How responsible is the rhetoric by the Planning and Housing Minister professing that he wanted to demolish the 25 floors and 16 towers of social housing? Is purely poor planning from the previous regime to blame? Who does throwing a deaf ear in terms of the back and forth debate on the monthly rental of the housing units help? How are complaints by the residents on the lack of supporting infrastructure addressed?
In which ever case, the point stands that our professionally staffed institutions have, or should have, the technical capacity to take the longer term view — one which politicians are not necessarily known for — in order to provide for goals that are more long term than the term of a flailing administration. The public deserve a mechanism whereby administration upon administration cannot point fingers and blame each other while the requirements of the state stagnate; or is taken to the brink of being torn down by bulldozers. Administrations should recognise this fact and critique long term strategies instead of tearing down short term projects for political points and showmanship.
No matter which government is in power, the Hulhumalé mega development project carries great strategic importance and economic impact, and there should be little room for political drama. It has to be an on-going, medium to long term project, that is consistent, and over-lapping when consequent governments come to power.
