Thulhaadhoo airport land reclamation restarts under new contract with changes

The land reclamation work for Thulhaadhoo Airport has been handed over to the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) after the previous agreement with a private contractor was terminated.

The original contract, awarded in July 2023 by the former administration under President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to Capital Marine and Construction Pvt Ltd, was cancelled despite a reclamation ceremony held in August. No actual work had begun. Thulhaadhoo was designated in November 2022 as one of the islands for airport development, funded by a private company in exchange for an island reserved for resort development.

President Mohamed Muizzu, during his ongoing visit to Baa atoll, said the project would continue with significant changes under MTCC. The land reclamation and beach protection work is scheduled to be completed within 660 days.

He said that MTCC would initially work according to the existing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which approved cutter suction dredging both for the airport and island reclamation. However, the government plans to propose changes to use a hofa dredger instead, taking sand from outside the lagoon rather than from within it.

“This change will halt sand mining inside the lagoon and speed up the project,” Muizzu said.

The President assured that reclamation and airport construction would proceed without interruption, reflecting the wishes of local residents.

According to the Ministry of Construction, the project involves reclaiming 55.4 hectares of land and building an 1,800-metre-long, 30-metre-wide code 3C runway. It will include dredging approximately 2.23 million cubic metres of sand, installing 2,804 metres of rock revetment, and 1,677 metres of geobag revetment.

During his presidential campaign visit to Thulhaadhoo in August, Muizzu promised to complete the airport project under his administration.

“If we say we will do it, we will do it,” he said.

“Don’t doubt. We will not make empty promises. We will have the technical information on how to secure financing.”

MTCC awarded Thulhaadhoo Airport reclamation project