An ambitious “Housing for All” initiative was launched to award 7,500 housing units and 15,000 land plots in Rasmalé and the Greater Malé Region. The housing ministry gazetted guidelines to allocate housing units under rent-to-own and affordable home ownership schemes, with 4,000 reserved for residents registered to Malé addresses, 1,500 for long-term non-native residents, and the rest for special categories. A separate guideline was gazetted to allocate 10,000 land plots for Malé natives, 3,000 for long-term residents from other islands, and 2,000 for special categories. Application for all schemes will open in January.
In a judgment in First Lady Sajidha Mohamed's lawsuit, the family court ruled that the Maldivian Democratic Party and its chairman Fayyaz Ismail can be held liable for failing to condemn comments made by MDP activist Mandhy Zubair about the president’s teenage son, which the court found to have violated a child’s dignity.
The health ministry, the National Social Protection Agency and the national airline signed a tripartite agreement to expand air ambulance services to Thailand and UAE.
In a tense hour-long meeting, the parliament’s budget committee grilled senior Customs and Maldives Ports Limited officials over delays in procuring a cargo container scanner to curb illegal smuggling through Malé’s port. The scanner would cost MVR 51 million (US$ 3.3 million) but only MVR 15 million was approved this year, a Customs official said, while MPL raised concerns about space constraints. The committee's chair noted assurances from the finance minister to arrange the funds, as MPs urged both agencies to “stop passing the buck” and tighten port and customs operations.
President Muizzu announced loan relief measures by the Bank of Maldives for 535 social housing loans taken to furnish Hiya flats and 26 loans taken for purchasing Vinares flats. The interest rate for the former will be lowered from 12 percent to 10 percent, and defaulters will be brought back into regular repayment. The interest rate on Vinares loans will also be adjusted from nine percent to eight percent, he said.
A hearing in the money laundering trial of Bassam Adeel Jaleel, the former president of the Football Association of Maldives, was delayed by three hours after Bassam refused to leave his cell in inmate attire. The hearing initially scheduled for 8:15am started at 11am after Bassam was brought to court in regular clothing.
Amendments to the Decentralisation Act submitted to parliament propose reducing the number of councillors in Malé and Addu while increasing representation in Fuvahmulah. The Malé City Council would be reduced from 19 members to 16, and the Addu City Council would be down from 13 to seven. But Fuvahmulah City – despite having less than half of Addu’s population – would see its council expanded from seven to nine members. The city councils of Kulhudhuffushi and Thinadhoo would remain at seven members each.
Police reported 54 accidents across Malé, the Sinamalé bridge, and the highway over the past week. The majority involved motorbikes and mainly resulted in vehicle damage. Eight incidents caused injuries.
Hamdhy Ageel, the former president of the Privatisation and Corporatisation Board, was appointed the secretary general of the new Media and Broadcasting Commission.
Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla rejected an emergency motion from opposition MP Mohamed Ibrahim about Fuvahmulah residents lacking access to clean water. The speaker dismissed the motion as unfounded, citing a statement from the Food and Drug Authority about municipal water samples taken from several areas meeting WHO standards for safe drinking.
The Maldives Monetary Authority's Research Conference 2025 commenced at the Villa Nautica resort with 240 participants.
Mohamed Alamin Mia, a 36-year-old Bangladeshi man, was arrested as the 10th suspect in the theft of two cigarette containers from the Hulhumalé International Terminal. The criminal court ordered his detention for the duration of the trial.
