Hanimaadhoo Citizens' Concerns Relayed to President

Residents of Hanimaadhoo presented a petition to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on their concerns regarding the government's plan to further develop the airport in Hanimaadhoo, Haa Dhaal Atoll.

The petition signed by 50 percent of the population eligible for voting stated that the project meshes with the lives, economy, and community of the citizens of Hanimaadhoo, but there are several concerns they wish to present regarding the new plans for the development of the airport.

The residents called for the developments to be planned in a way that will maximize benefits for locals in the long run, and discuss the changes requested by the population of Hanimaadhoo in accordance with the government's principle of decentralization to ensure that the project does not leave future generations powerless in their own land.

The petition further read that all the residents of Hanimaadhoo wished for the airport to be developed to an acceptable standard, mentioning the residents' hopes and dreams for developments in the future. Although the airport is interwoven with the economy and community of the island, the petition highlighted five main concerns.

The five concerns include allocating land for housing and other purposes for the next 50 years, discussing the project with the people in accordance with the government's decentralization policy, and forming and approving a land-use plan before airport development can begin.

Further demands include using the least land possible from the area surrounding the airport during developments and allowing the land that has no direct relation to the airport to be owned by the Hanimaadhoo Council to be used as a means to generate an income and collect funds.

The document also mentioned that the 420,316 sq ft land allocated for Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) operations is used by residents of the island and is important for future development, requesting for MNDF to be allocated a different plot of land according to the land use plan guidelines or to reclaim land from the vicinity of the airport on the south side of the island.

The residents also called for complete transparency and social impact analysis of such a large development project. They further called for relevant government authorities to respond to their concerns before they proceed with the project with full cooperation from the people.

They claimed there was no political intention behind the petition, and that the residents of Hanimaadhoo look forward to development, and wish to adhere to the government's policies.