Maldives Government to Retain Full Control of Rasmalé Project, Says President

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu said today that the Rasmalé project, to be implemented by UAE-based Eagle Hills, will be carried out under the full control of the Maldivian government, and that properties built under it cannot change hands without the state’s knowledge.

Speaking on the President’s Office podcast “The Pulse,” in his first response to opposition allegations about the project, Muizzu said the opposition was distorting the truth for political ends, despite knowing the reality of the mega project.

Properties built in Rasmalé under the Eagle Hills project will be sold to buyers for 99 years, after which the buyers must sell them back to the Maldivian state, the President said.

“If the state wishes to sell it to another party then, it will do so. Full control and authority will remain with the Maldivian state and the government. Therefore, this is not something where it automatically renews and grants another 99 years,” he said.

He stressed that ownership of these properties cannot be sold to anyone else without the government’s knowledge.

Muizzu compared the arrangement to resort islands, which are leased for 99 years. On expiry, depending on the agreement, the state can take the property back by compensating the lessee for investments made, or extend the term. He said Rasmalé is being handled in a similar manner.

Nationals of any single country may purchase a maximum of 25 percent of the properties built by Eagle Hills in Rasmalé, the President said. A bill on real estate laws will be submitted to Parliament very soon, and will set out these matters in detail, he added.

Explaining the decision to bring in the developer, Muizzu said the area must already be developing rapidly by the time residents move into the land plots and flats allocated to the public from Rasmalé. A massive Eagle Hills investment in a portion of the project was decided to achieve that, he said.

He pointed to Hulhumalé, where reclamation, settlement and development took many years and where, he said, proper investments and “full factors” are still lacking. Businesses there only began to thrive, and people to settle in earnest, after the Sinamalé Bridge brought an economic boost, he said. Before the bridge, Hulhumalé was merely a place where people “slept and came back to Malé,” and thousands of residents still live that way.

“Things should not be provided to the citizens by the government in that manner. We need to bring development to the people with much better planning and at a much faster speed. Housing, in particular, must be provided,” the President said.

“Therefore, for people to be able to live comfortably in the land plots and flats they receive from Rasmalé, the development of the entire area must be achieved within a short period of time. Job opportunities must be facilitated, and other necessities must be arranged there. That is why we decided to implement this project [with Eagle Hills] in a part of Rasmalé to pave the way for that.”

The Maldivian government signed a commercial terms agreement with Eagle Hills, chaired by Mohamed Alabbar, to develop a $20 billion luxury waterfront, marina and integrated destination project in Rasmalé, located in the Fushidhiggaru lagoon near Malé.