A technical delegation from China is scheduled to arrive this month to lead the structural planning for the modernisation of Malé’s urban road network, Dr Abdulla Muththalib, the Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, has announced Monday. The mission is a critical step for an infrastructure initiative developed under a Chinese sovereign grant, a central priority for the administration of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu.
Addressing parliamentary queries regarding the project’s timeline, Minister Muththalib clarified that the pacing is dictated by the donor nation’s stringent administrative frameworks. Beijing’s assistance mandates separate procurement processes for feasibility, design, and construction, a systematic segmentation that is the primary driver of the extended timeline, the minister noted.
“When a sovereign state provides grant assistance, it is fundamentally an allocation of its own taxpayers’ money,” Minister Muththalib told the chamber, adding that the Maldives is obligated to comply with the donor’s legislative regulations to benefit from such aid.
The project was strategically bifurcated after a feasibility team recommended design alterations to mitigate persistent urban flooding. Consequently, work on Majeedhee Magu will proceed alongside the specialised design phases for the remaining grid. These procedural requirements are not exclusive to Chinese partnerships; similar durations are required for programmes facilitated by Japanese and Indian credit lines, Minister Muththalib informed Parliament.
“Every conceivable operational effort is being mobilised to drive this essential infrastructure project forward,” the minister said, dismissing suggestions that either government was taking deliberate actions to forestall the initiative.