MDP's Promises to Solve Male City Housing Crisis Nothing More Than Illusions: MP Shiyam

All of the promises made by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party to solve the housing crisis in Male City have turned out to be illusions, said MP Ahmed Shiyam (Naifaru). MP Shiyam said this while arguing for the motion he submitted to the Majlis floor today that called for increased transparency on how the government had handled the one-room apartments of the Hiyaa housing project.

The Hiyaa Public Housing Scheme had been initiated by the Yameen administration and had involved the construction of 7,000 housing units.

MP Shiyam pointed out that the Minister of National Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam had claimed that the single-room housing units of the Hiyaa Public Housing Scheme "did not exist". In response to the claim that had been made by the Minister, MP Shiyam retorted that what "did not exist" were the 400 housing units that were supposed to have been built by a company called OIA for USD$ 40 million. The State paid in advance, he said. It was unknown whether those flats flew up into the sky or sunk into the earth, remarked MP Shiyam.

MP Shiyam also stated that although blueprints for Gulheefalhu had been published, no housing units had been built on the island. The Yameen administration had a solid housing policy, he said. MP Shiyam said that even the MDP, in its early years, would have had a housing policy. However, that policy is not being put into action, he said.

The MDP enjoys a lot of support in Male City, said MP Shiyam. However, all of the promises that the MDP had made to the people of Male City of solving the housing crisis had turned out to be illusions. The PPM did not make hollow promises, MP Shiyam said. The PPM had built flats that could be touched and felt, he remarked.

The government's declining financial capacity has lead it to sell off the Hiyaa Scheme's single-room housing units at high prices through state-owned companies. MP Shiyam claimed that these flats were being sold to buyers recommended by influential officials of the ruling party.