The black market dollar rate reached a record MVR22.10, multiple media outlets reported. It stood at MVR21.85 by the end of last week. The rate is MVR6.68 above the MMA's official peg of MVR 15.42, a premium of 43 per cent. It previously peaked at MVR19.50 during the pandemic, when borders were closed. Adhadhu cited difficulty for importers in obtaining dollars through the banking system and the state's foreign debt obligations as the drivers.
HDC paid China Railway Construction Corporation US$13.2 million in advance for reclamation at Rasmalé before the company began any reclamation work, Adhadhu reported. CRCC was awarded five sites totalling 352 hectares under a US$265.5 million contract covering survey, design, reclamation and shore protection, to be completed in 18 months, after the original contract with CMC was terminated. The company billed HDC US$9.4 million for work it said it had done, but an independent evaluation HDC commissioned from Epoch Associates found it had completed about three per cent of the project and had not finished any contracted line item. CRCC sought US$2.6 million for coral relocation, its largest single claim, but the evaluation found no record of where the coral had been moved and could not verify it. Work it presented as the required temporary jetty was not built to the submitted drawings, and the evaluation valued what the next contractor could actually use at under US$1 million. HDC's board nonetheless agreed to CRCC's figure rather than the lower amount its consultant advised. By comparison, HDC spent US$21 million to complete all work at site J. The details emerged from a report published by the whistleblower account Hassan Kurusee on X.
The foreign ministry said it is seeking bilateral partners’ assistance to find three men, captain Mohamed Hamdhoon, MNDF Staff Sergeant Ibrahim Ahmed and police Sergeant Ali Nafiu, who went missing when the cargo vessel Friend 4 sank on Wednesday night with a load of construction material. The soldier and police officer had boarded the vessel to assist after it began taking on water.
A petition was launched calling on parliament to withdraw a bill that would give cabinet the power to strip land from council jurisdiction for government development projects. The amendment, which would also require councils to cooperate with government projects and bar them from obstructing such projects, would strip elected councillors of constitutionally mandated powers, the petition argues. The changes were proposed after the opposition MDP swept all city and major island councils in April's local elections.
HDC led a cleanup of a large rubbish pile near the Fahi flats in Hulhumalé Phase 2, removing 670 tonnes of waste in a single day as part of a mosquito prevention campaign. FDC said illegal dumping has cost MVR13.5 million over the past eight months to manage, with 5,040 tonnes of waste removed from the area since residents moved in last September.
Malé City Council's community engagement unit received 321 complaints in a week from 26 July to 1 August, with illegal waste dumping on roads, alleyways, open land and in lagoons accounting for 256 of them. Other complaints included water dripping from roofs and air conditioning units, damaged road markings and traffic lights, illegal street vending and cracked pavements.
MDP filed a complaint with HRCM over the situation of Haa Dhaal Hirimaradhoo's 293 residents, who remain on the island after it was declared uninhabited by presidential decree last December but without receiving promised housing in Hanimaadhoo or adequate services. MDP's decentralisation committee said the Hanimaadhoo Council was not fulfilling its designated caretaker role. It called on the government to either build the promised 180-plus housing units in Hanimaadhoo within the original 18-month timeline or to revoke the decree and reinstate Hirimaradhoo's council.
More than 500 palms have been removed from Laamu Isdhoo and shipped off the island without permission, under a road project for which 175 were authorised, a resident told Adhadhu. He said trees along a two-kilometre stretch had been taken using two landing craft and three dhonis by RDC and MTCC staff, that more than 200 lay uprooted and abandoned, and that banyans and other trees 40 and 50 years old were being burnt. Isdhoo council president Ahmed Hanif said palms were being removed and shipped out under RDC's road works but that the number would not reach 500, and that the areas had to be cleared for the project to proceed. Environmental Regulation Authority chief executive Hassan Mohamed said no permission had been given to remove palms or trees at Isdhoo and that the ERA is investigating a complaint.
The agriculture ministry launched the second round of the MVR15 million (US$973,000) Dhanduveri Manfaa agribusiness matching grant scheme, targeting farmers, NGOs, SMEs and cooperatives in Haa Alif, Haa Dhaalu and Shaviyani atolls for climate-smart greenhouse and hydroponic projects. The Dhanduveri Nafa loan scheme was converted to an Islamic financing model covering urban farming, poultry, agro-processing and plant nurseries, both administered through the SME Digital portal.
