As part of the official visit to Kulhudhuffushi in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom inaugurated the land reclamation project for the development of Kulhudhuffushi Airport at a colorful ceremony held in the island. President Yameen received a very warm welcome by the residents of Kulhudhuffushi as well as all the members of the island council.
In addition to the inauguration of the land reclamation project for the development of Kulhudhuffushi Airport, the President also launched the state of the art trailing suction hopper dredger of Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC). The trailing suction hopper dredger is the largest in the Easydredge series of standard twin-screw trailing suction hopper dredgers, with a length of overall 92.95 metres and a hopper capacity of 3.700m³ per load.
The dredger has a world dredging equipment package, which includes an adjustable overflow, bottom doors, jet water system and a shore pumping installation. This makes it a versatile trailing suction hopper dredger. The dredger is also equipped with an extended suction pipe and an underwater pump that enables the vessel to dredge to a depth of 50 metres.
The dredger is capable of conducting land reclamation activities without causing damage to the environment. Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Minister of Tourism Moosa Zameer assured that the government is considering solutions for the danger of flooding that may be caused as a result of reclaiming the mangrove swamp in Kulhudhuffushi. 6 hectares are to be reclaimed from the western lagoon of Kulhudhuffushi while another 9 hectares will be reclaimed from the island's mangrove swamp.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, one of the two parliamentarians representing Kulhudhuffushi, Mohamed Nasheed affirmed that no resident of the island is against the airport development project. Nasheed stressed that Kulhudhuffushi is the main hub of the north, which links business, education, health and the transportation sector. He stated that from the perspective of progress, the presence of all these industries are beneficial to the island's people, and that an airport is currently required to further develop Kulhudhuffushi.
Speaking at the ceremony, CEO of MTCC Ibrahim Ziyath revealed that the reclamation of land required for the development of Kulhudhuffushi Airport would be completed within a month. He further revealed that the next project of the dredger would be the land reclamation for the development of a domestic airport in Funadhoo of Shaviyani Atoll.