Housing Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib has said the Maldives Marina and Waterfront project in Rasmalé was awarded to Eagle Hills under the rules governing privately initiated investment proposals.

The minister made the statement in a written response to a question from Galolhu Uthuru MP Mohamed Ibrahim (Kudoo), who asked why the project was not opened to competitive bidding despite the decision to lease a large area of Rasmalé to the UAE-based company for 99 years.

In his response, Dr Muththalib said the agreement was signed in accordance with Article 10.22(n) of the Public Finance Regulations, which provides for privately initiated investment proposals under the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).

He added that this approach is already used for project development in the Maldives.

The minister also addressed other questions about the US$20 billion project, stating that key provisions of the signed commercial terms had been made public.