The Ministry of Economic Development announced that the contractor financing the reclamation of Giraavaru lagoon will be granted Noonu atoll’s Dhigufalhu lagoon and Dhekenanfaru; an uninhabited island in the same atoll, on a 99-year lease as repayment.
Under the large-scale reclamation efforts, 120 hectares of land will be reclaimed from Giraavaru lagoon. The ministry also said that the project will be completed during July 2023.
In response to an RTI by local online news ‘Mihaaru’, the ministry said that the reclamation project of Giraavaru was to allocated a minimum of 2,000 plots of land.
The reclamation project was contracted to a consortium led by Capital Marine and Civil Construction Company Pvt Ltd (CMC) with the participation of Netherlands’ construction group Boskalis.
CMC is the contractor reclaiming 20 hectares of land in Thilafushi while Boskalis is reclamining the land in Gulhifalhu, Male’ atoll.
Swiss entrepreneur Louis Gianadda bagged Giraavaru project
The Maldives government announced seeking investors to finance the development of a mixed residential city in Giraavaru lagoon on 16th December 2022.
Out of all the prospective investors who applied, it was Switzerland’s Yanik Robert Louis Gianadda who bagged the project.
The government earlier announced a policy of leasing islands, land, or lagoons to investors who undertake significant pre-planned developmental projects. The ministry assured that the agreement made between the government and Gianadda aligned with the said policy.
The development of a residential city in Giraavaru through a large-scale land reclamation effort was approved with a presidential decree.
“The government offered to lease Noonu atoll Dhigugalhu and Dhekenanfaru to Yanik Rober Louis Gianadda, who is the primary investor in the residential city development project in Kaafu atoll Giraavaru lagoon,” the ministry said.
“The lease acquisition cost for the island and the lagoon is USD 22 million, and another USD 5 million was paid to extend the lease to 99 years.”
The Noonu atoll lagoon and islands neighbored each other, while the lagoon spans an area of six square-kilometers approximately.
The Swiss businessman received the lagoon and the island on lease with the condition to pay regular taxes according to the Tourism Act of the Maldives.
Land reclamation in Giraavaru lagoon is expected to be completed in July, however, the entire project including shore protection would be finishing by August 2024.
The Giraavaru lagoon reclamation falls under the state’s pledge to issue land in Male’ city after a period of nearly 40 years. A total of 5,000 plots will be allocated to Greater Male’ residents, with 1,000 plots from Hulhumale’ and 2,000 plots each from Gulhifalhu and Giraavaru.
Earlier in February 2023, the Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih announced additional plots would be issued from the islands, expanding the allocation of land for residential purposes. However, the exact number of the additional plots was not disclosed.
The Ministry of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure claimed receiving 15,164 applications for the housing scheme.