Boduthakurufaanu Magu reopened on Friday afternoon, timed for Independence Day, with the stretch from the Henveiru ferry terminal to MMA widened to four lanes. MTCC said the first phase cost MVR159.88 million (US$10.3 million) and covered reclaiming 8,793 square metres, 800 metres of sheet piling on the quay wall, a 13,936-square-metre carriageway, drainage, lighting, water and sewerage works and parking for 500 motorcycles. The second phase cost MVR60.42 million and covered 1,914.43 square metres of reclamation, 260 metres of sheet piling, a 4,350-square-metre carriageway and provisions supplying water and electricity to boats at the quay wall. President Muizzu said the next phase and the rest of the ring road, from MPL to the tsunami monument, would be completed before the end of November.
Police warned they will take action against vehicles parked outside the designated parking zones on Boduthakurufaanu Magu, saying it obstructs traffic and endangers the public.
President Muizzu abruptly removed Fathimath Maheera Mohamed as deputy president of the Employment Tribunal on Tuesday, the same day he appointed a new tribunal president, Adhadhu and Dhauru reported. Maheera, appointed in April 2024, was removed without warning and without any legal ground being cited, according to sources cited by Adhadhu, who said she had not previously been told of any issue with her work. They described her as the member deciding the most cases, and said she had been leading the tribunal's work since the previous president, Ishaq Hussain, resigned in April. The President's Office has given no reason and Maheera has not commented.
Police fined three people over dangerous riding on the Sinamalé bridge, two MVR2,000 each and a third MVR4,000 for repeat offending, after their motorcycles were impounded for 30 days. A video circulating on social media showed three riders speeding across the bridge at night, two of them lying flat on their seats holding the handlebars. Police had earlier told media no action was being taken against the riders because no one was injured, and fined them after public criticism.
In the fifth episode of The Pulse podcast, President Muizzu said everyone seeking government jobs is bad for the country and stops the private sector expanding. He said many see a government office as an easy job and that his government was working to end the habit, including by right-sizing state companies.
Muizzu said sports projects had been delayed about six months because spending had to be prioritised elsewhere, particularly on fuel, because of the Middle East war, but would all be complete by the first quarter of 2028. He listed an indoor go-kart arena in Hulhumalé "to the standard of Singapore", an international racing and drifting track, a surfing stadium at Raalhugandu, an indoor gaming centre at Sultan Park, an indoor bowling arena, netball and futsal complexes, outdoor gyms and fitness centres on every island, and sports complexes seating 1,200 on 25 islands with populations over 2,000. Reclamation for the racing track, begun around the council elections, has stalled over shore protection materials.
A US$175 million "sustainable township" across islands in Thaa atoll was announced through a press release placed in Indian media carrying an advertorial disclaimer. There has been no statement from the government. PSM published an article and later removed it. The project was announced as a partnership between Blue Synergy Investments and London-based Emerald Corporates. Blue Synergy's managing director is former deputy commissioner of police Mohamed Fayaz, who said Emerald chairman Sailesh Lachu Hiranandani is providing the financing and strategic direction. No islands were named and no start date was given.
The housing ministry awarded MTCC the contract to build a court complex in Hulhumalé, a 14-storey building on 29,490 square feet costing MVR699.86 million, to be finished in 720 days. It will house the Civil, Criminal, Drug, Juvenile, Family and High Courts and the Department of Judicial Administration.
MDP condemned the president's removal of Savaaheli from Addu City Council's jurisdiction. The party said it came while the newly elected council was drawing up Addu's five-year development plan as the law requires, called it an act against the decision of Addu's people and an obstruction of the city's development.
In a video message posted on Facebook, Addu Mayor Ali Nizar accused the government of deliberately obstructing the council's development work. He said the council had written to the President's Office more than a year ago seeking permission to release Savaaheli for tourism and received no reply, and that the island was removed from its jurisdiction only after the council opened it for recreational facilities. Nizar said he had been told from within government that Addu MPs asked the president to do it. He said Savaaheli adjoins the Feydhoo tourism zone, where about 400 guesthouse rooms are near completion against a council target of 1,000 by 2028, and that soft loans for the zone had been stopped. The government could develop tourism without Savaaheli, he said, with three reclaimed islands and Hankede untouched. He also said Shangri-La has not reopened, South Palm is closed, Dhoogas is stalled and Equator Village is to close, and that RDC had done nothing on the Addu link road in 18 months beyond removing trees while keeping more than 50 staff there.
Nizar said the council will charge rent on the land being taken for Google's submarine cable landing station and network facility in Hithadhoo, even though the government has agreed to provide it free. The council estimates the rent at MVR1.5 million a month, or MVR18 million a year, on the 160,000 square feet the government was asked to provide. The Dhivaru cable, announced in November, will connect Oman, the Maldives and Christmas Island, and Google describes it as its own investment.
Sri Lankan police arrested two Maldivians over drugs, Mihaaru reported. Hassan Abdulla, 40, was detained at Bandaranaike International Airport on Wednesday night with 602g of crystal meth strapped to his body, after intelligence that drugs were being brought to Sri Lanka via the Maldives. Police said he told them the drugs were for a large-scale meth dealer in Sri Lanka, and on that information arrested Mohamed Shafee bin Ahmed, 28, at a Colombo hotel. Both were remanded for 14 days by the Negombo Magistrate Court.
Prince Mansour bin Mutaib bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, an adviser to the Saudi king and minister of state, is the guest of honour at the 61st Independence Day celebrations, attending on behalf of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Muizzu's invitation. He called on Muizzu on Saturday, where the two discussed trade and investment cooperation and Muizzu thanked Saudi Arabia for the Makkah Route Initiative. Bangladesh's foreign minister Khalilur Rahman, the government's special guest for the celebrations, also called on Muizzu, discussing education and multilateral cooperation.
