Male’ City, Before and After Congestion (Part 2)

We are continuing with our project to show you some locations of the capital city Male’, before and after its congestion.

It seems that Male’ is always evolving. New infrastructure projects to further “develop” the dense capital city are announced every presidential election by all candidates. Over 77 such projects are already listed in Isles.gov.mv for this year, which was budgeted at more than MVR 778 million.

What’s more, Finance Ministry proposed a budget of over MVR 990 million for developments in Male’ City next year, not counting Vilimale’ and Hulhumale’. This includes the growth of schools, road development, and upgrading various offices. 

All of these projects strive to cater to the needs of the city’s overcrowded population. The question is, how did we get here? Did Male’ become overcrowded accidentally, or was it a plot to raise the market value of Male’s land, especially by elites in the government?

Years of neglecting the atolls and focusing a disproportionate amount of tax money on Male’ has forced islanders to move to Male’ for basic necessities like education, employment, and healthcare. And while these basic needs are met in this city, do you believe the congested Male’ offers a better quality of life?

Who is responsible for the misery of many people who are forced to migrate? Is it the landlords who found an opportunity for business by charging high rent or the governments that have come, who have openly held discriminatory policies between Male’ and the other islands?