Distributing land for free will cost HDC a loss of MVR 2 billion

The “Binveriya Scheme”, a housing project introduced by the government to give free land to residents of Male’, is estimated to cost the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) MVR 2 billion as losses.

A senior official at HDC told TMJ that the lands to be distributed by the government in fact, dedicated investment properties, which were costed and included in their projected financial statements. He said that therefore, should these properties be given away under another project, HDC is set to suffer a terrible loss.

The source from HDC said that MVR 2 billion was not a small amount and it may just lead to the company going bankrupt.

The senior employee said that if they were to give land from phase 2 in Hulhumale under Binveriya Scheme, HDC will have to spend MVR 218,636,478.59 to restructure the roads around the land plots and 1000 land plots will cost MVR 1,980,648,222.58 (MVR 1.9 billion).

The source told TMJ that these land plots were listed as HDC assets on paper and giving them away for free will raise the company’s Debt-to-Assets ratio. He said that this will cause the corporation to lose loans, grants and other valuable investment opportunities in the future.

The administration has received blunt scrutiny as they prepare to disburse free land so close to the 2023 presidential election.