The Ministry of Housing on Saturday evening has reversed its policy on social housing eligibility.
The earlier decision stated that if both the husband and wife received land under the ‘Binveriya’ Scheme, they would only be eligible for a flat under the “Gedhoruveriya” scheme if one of them relinquished the land.
This decision was officially announced by the ministry earlier on May 29th.
The ministry, however, on Saturday evening reversed this citing it made the decision owing to public concerns. The ministry in its announcement further clarified that it reversed the decision since land reclamation in Hulhumale’ Phase II and Giraavarufalhu are still ongoing while it would take considerable time before landowners can begin living on the plots they have been awarded.
The Housing Ministry further clarified that none of the individuals on the list published on November 15, 2023, have been issued with an ineligibility letter.
Meanwhile, the government has announced it will begin signing agreements with recipients of the 4,000 flats under Gedhoruveriya Scheme from Monday onward.
The recipients list for Gedhoruveriya Scheme was announced on November 4, 2023, with just a few days remaining to former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration. The list, however, attracted significant public concerns after which the then administration released a re-evaluated list on November 15 of the same year.
Any proceedings under the scheme, however, were halted after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) intervened citing there had been instances misusing resources to grant flats through corruption.
The current administration evaluated the contentious list and later announced that only 1,820 applicants were found to be eligible while 53 percent of the initial recipients had been awarded points inappropriately.
The Minister of Housing Dr. Abdulla Muththalib later announced that the current administration will consider the list published on November 15 in 2023 as the finalized list, and further clarified that the administration would not release another list.