Vice President Faisal Naseem has stated preparations are underway to open Kudagiri Picnic Island. He made the statement in an interview with PSM News after participating in a tree-planting programme on the island.
Vice President Naseem said the opening of Kudagiri had to be postponed in order to develop the landscape by planting more trees for shade. He noted the support of state-owned companies and private parties on the tree planting programme.
Rasheed Carpentry and Construction (RCC) donated 1,500 trees for the tree planting programme. Chairman of RCC Mohamed Nazim said the trees were mostly garden variety plants, in contrast to the trees donated by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).
The facilities and utility services have been established on Kudagiri and the government aims to open the picnic island in November. HDC has opened the opportunity for individuals to participate in the planting programme.
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 Kuda Bandos as a resort. It is an electoral pledge of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to develop a picnic island near Male' City. The project is a joint effort of five government companies.
The master plan of the picnic island was developed by HDC. Eight hectares of land were reclaimed by the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) for the development of the picnic island. The utility services of the island were developed jointly by Male’ Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC), Fenaka Corporation Limited, and State Electric Company Limited (STELCO).