Solih: MDP will slash rent for ‘Gedhoruveriya’ flats if re-elected

Former Maldivian president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih promised on Saturday that the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), if re-elected to office, will slash the rent for the 4,000 flats build under his administration’s ‘Gedhoruveriya’ housing scheme, as he criticized the incumbent People’s National Congress (PNC) administration for its decision to charge higher than the originally planned rates.

The 4,000 flats were developed in Hulhumale’ Phase II by the Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC) - the first of housing units built under the ‘Gedhoruveriya’ scheme, a social housing project launched by the former administration.

The MDP administration had announced that the monthly rent for two-bedroom flats would be MVR 6,000, and the rent for three-bedroom flats would be MVR 8,000, including a monthly maintenance free of MVR 1,000.

But the incumbent administration has decided to charge a higher monthly rent of MVR 7,000 for two-bedroom flats and MVR 9,000 for three-bedroom flats. With tenants required to additionally pay a security deposit of MVR 15,000 and a monthly maintenance fee of MVR 1,000 for two-bedroom apartments, and a security deposit of MVR 25,000 and a monthly maintenance fee of MVR 1,500 for three-bedroom apartments.

In a phone interview to RaajjeTV on Saturday morning, Solih said that it had been because of efforts by his administration to find a contractor who can get it done at lower cost that the ‘Gedhoruveriya’ project got slightly delayed.

“We can [charge the originally decided rent]. Those are calculations we made based on how the project was carried out and the loans taken to fund it,” he said.

Solih said that his administration had also planned to provide a three-month deferment on rent to help families settle in and ease the financial burden related with moving in to a new home.

Solih said that his administration also had not planned on taking a security deposit.

He said that the incumbent PNC administration should honor these decisions.

“God willing, it will be a MDP administration that comes to power in 2028. I hope this is what the voters will decide. I wish to assure the people that the future MDP administration will honor the previous MDP decision to charge total MVR 8,000 for three-bedroom flats and MVR 6,000 for two-bedroom flats, inclusive of MVR 1,000 for maintenance. God willing, I will work on behalf of the MDP to revert it back to this,” said Solih.

The list of recipients of the flats, which was released during the last days of the MDP administration, was the subject of an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The corruption watchdog ordered for the suspension of the issuance of flats, before finally giving the Housing Ministry the go-ahead to proceed in February 2024.

The incumbent administration released a new list of recipients after a verification process that lasted a year in February. But following public backlash over high number of disqualifications, Housing Minister Dr. Abdulla Muthalib said the flats would be issued based on the original list.

Signing of agreements for the flats began last week, with the handover of all flats estimated to be done by the end of September.