The Government of the Maldives has postponed the opening of Kudagiri Picnic Island.
Speaking to PSM News, Minister of State for National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Akram Kamaluddeen said the opening has been postponed to build additional facilities and further develop the landscape by planting more trees.
Furthermore, Fenaka Corporation Limited has begun providing electricity services on the island after completing the development of its powerhouse. The services were officially inaugurated by Vice President Faisal Naseem. The powerhouse has a 350KW capacity and can store 50,000 litres of fuel. Fenaka stated that the powerhouse is environmentally friendly and was built to modern standards, adding that work has begun to generate 70% of the electricity needed on the island using solar energy.
Kudagiri is currently under development as a picnic island for residents of the Greater Male’ Region. The island is being developed jointly by state-owned companies. As such, 8ha of land was reclaimed by the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) for the development of the picnic island. MTCC also developed the beaches and shore protection structures of the island, as well as jetty, reception, and staff accommodation. The utility services of the island were developed jointly by Male’ Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC), Fenaka, and State Electric Company Limited (STELCO).
The master plan of the picnic island was developed by Housing Development Corporation (HDC). The company revealed all services except accommodation will be available when the island is opened to the public. As such, public toilets, changing rooms, and huts, as well as water sports facilities, will be made available to the public, while accommodation blocks will be developed under the second phase of the project.
Residents of the Greater Male’ Region currently do not have a convenient picnic location. The residents in the capital region lost the only picnic island within accessible proximity following the redevelopment of Kudabandos as a resort.