China Harbor Engineering Company has started an ambitious reclamation project in the Maldives. CHEC has started building the boundary wall in the reclamation process. The project will be an extension of Thilafushi, another artificial island built in the early 1990s west of the capital Male. It now covers more than 43 hectares and hosts a number of industries including cement manufacturing, shipbuilding, warehousing and methane bottling. As we all know, Thilafushi Phase II will be a sustainable industrial center and a new industrial base currently located in Male City.

On December 15, 2022, CHEC, a subsidiary of China Communications Holdings, was awarded the project by the housing development company on the island. CHEC was previously responsible for the construction and maintenance of the Sinamalé Bridge linking the city of Male with its northeastern neighbor Hulhumale. The first phase of the project will reclaim 40 hectares of land and is expected to be completed within 8 months. HDC expects the full reclamation of 150 hectares to take two years.

Concurrent with the construction of the island, India's Afcons Infrastructure will build the Thilamalé Bridge between Thilafushi and Male City at a cost of US$500 million. Thilafushi is made from sand and disputed island waste.

After the Maldives was created, it remains the main destination for Maldivian trash. This resulted in about 300 tonnes of rubbish being dumped on the island every day, including small amounts of lead and asbestos, causing its area to increase by about 1 square meter a day. In 2008, it led the Maldives' main ecological movement, Bluepeace, to describe Thilafushi as a toxic bomb.Editor/XingWentao