Addu City Council has contracted three companies for the development of Eco-Tourism Zones in five districts of Addu City.
The ceremony to sign the agreement for the project was held at the Addu City Council. As part of the project, Eco Tourism Zones will be developed in Feydhoo, Maradhoo, Hithadhoo, Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo in Addu.
The signing ceremony was virtually participated by Foreign Secretary Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed and High Commissioner of India to the Maldives Sunjay Sudir. Speaking at the ceremony, Foreign Secretary Abdul Ghafoor congratulated the Addu City Council for the important milestone achieved in realising the vision of being a thriving economic hub, and an established tourist destination. He further highlighted the contribution of these projects towards sustainable tourism development and foreign investment opportunities for the industrial development of the city.
As the implementing agency for the projects, Addu City Council is responsible for steering the entire project-cycle including tendering, tender-evaluation, award of contracts, monitoring and execution of the projects. The grant projects are being implemented under the High-Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) scheme of the government of India which involves a total grant assistance of USD 5.5 million to the Maldives.
In his remarks at the ceremony, High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir highlighted the three most important objectives of the HICDP scheme, namely, developing high-impact assets for the benefit of the local island community, building capacities within the local councils that are entrusted with the responsibility of executing the projects and supporting of the local island economy.
The high commissioner recalled that contracts for the other three initiations under the HICDP in Addu, relating to setting up of fish-processing plants, had been awarded during a ceremony held on July 22. He also acknowledged the efforts made by Addu City Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government bodies to register concrete progress on the projects despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiations under the HICDP are selected by the foreign ministry, and are those that involve a high-level of community impact and participation in the areas of livelihood and income generation, health, education, gender and child empowerment, sports, sustainable development.