President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has said the government will submit the full Ras Malé agreement with UAE-based developer Eagle Hills to Parliament once it is finalised, and that most of the 5,000 flats being built under the deal will go to young people and workers.
Speaking on Wednesday evening on the sixth episode of Nation Chat, a podcast by Public Service Media, the President said the agreement would also be sent for review to a standing committee chosen by Parliament. Because Parliament is made up of elected representatives, placing the agreement before it amounted to making it available to the public, he said.
He said a bill on real estate tourism was being drafted for Parliament and would be published for two to three weeks of public consultation before it becomes law.
The government signed a commercial terms agreement with Eagle Hills on 21 September for the project, which covers 500 hectares of reclaimed land in Ras Malé. Muizzu said Maldivian sovereignty, the Constitution and Maldivian law would apply there, with the police and all state institutions exercising their full authority.
He said alcohol and pork would be banned, casinos and foreign-controlled schools would not be allowed, and mosques would be built with the call to prayer made five times a day. No more than 25 percent of the property could be sold to nationals of any single country, buyers would be vetted through passport and KYC checks, and Israeli nationals would not be able to buy, rent or stay there, he said.
Who will get the 5,000 Hulhumalé flats?
The President said Eagle Hills would spend USD 500 million up front to build 5,000 three-bedroom units in Hulhumalé Phase 3, together with water, electricity and sewerage services, drawn from the 10 percent of revenue due to the government from the project's first sales. The state would take no loans and repay nothing, he said.
He said the government would decide who receives the flats and at what price, and expected structural and finishing work to be completed by August 2028. He intends to give a large share to young people and to workers in resorts, fisheries and other sectors, with priority for those who have no housing. According to the President's Office release on the Nation Chat interview, he also said foreign investment would not reduce housing opportunities for Maldivians, and that eligible applicants in all housing categories would be provided for, with eligible land applicants receiving plots in Ras Malé.
What the opposition says about the Ras Malé deal
The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said in a statement on 15 October that it supports foreign investment, but called on the government to publish the agreement in full, including its duration, the state's obligations and any concessions to the developer, and to clarify whether any provision could give foreigners ownership of Maldivian land. It urged the government not to make such agreements without public consent through a referendum. Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih told the MDP congress on 1 October that the party "should not say yes to anything that goes on in secret".
Muizzu said on Wednesday that the public had no reason to be concerned about the project and that opposition parties were not acting in good faith in opposing it. The MDP's National Council is due to meet on Sunday, 1 November, to decide the party's position.