Timeline discrepancy emerges over new MTCC dredger: President says this year, Minister says next year

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and Housing Minister Dr. Abdulla Muttholib have given conflicting timelines for the arrival of a new, larger dredger for the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC). Speaking on state media's 'Nations Chat' podcast in September, President Muizzu stated that a dredger three times larger than the current one at MTCC has been secured and is hoped to be brought to the country before the end of this year. He said that once brought, all ongoing land reclamation projects entrusted to MTCC would proceed strongly. However, speaking at Aha Forum on Monday night, Minister Muttholib stated that the government is working to secure a dredger capable of loading 10,000 cubic meters at once. He said this dredger would be brought to the country in the early part of next year. Minister Muttholib stated that the biggest challenge facing land reclamation is the shortage of dredgers at MTCC. He noted that cutter suction dredgers are working in various islands, and the only hopper dredger is working continuously without interruption. He said the current dredger at MTCC can extract 3,000 cubic meters per minute at once, and securing a dredger capable of loading 10,000 cubic meters at once would accelerate land reclamation work significantly. The Muizzu government has initiated land reclamation projects in many islands coinciding with the council elections. However, councils are stating that no project is progressing.