As part of his tour of islands, President Mohamed Nasheed visited Guraidhoo, Maafushi and Gulhi today.

 
Meeting the people of the three islands, the President reiterated that the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had a vision for the development of the country and expressed optimism of attaining socio-economic transformation.
 
He also highlighted the benefits to all three islands as a result of government’s progress towards delivering its pledges.
 
In this regard, he said 306 residents of Guraidhoo, 335 residents of Maafushi and 99 residents of Gulhi were insured under Madhana health insurance scheme. In addition, he noted that a total of over 32,000 people received healthcare paid for by the Madhana insurance scheme last year.
 
He added that, 73 residents of Guraidhoo, 39 residents of Maafushi and 39 residents of Gulhi continued to receive the pension of Mrf 2000 given by the government. He said that under government’s social security programme, a sum of Mrf 293,000, Mrf 76,000 and Mrf 54,000 of social security benefits was received by the residents of Guraidhoo, Maafushi and Gulhi respectively in 2010.
 
The President underscored that the objective of the government’s education policy was to ensure at least 60 percent of the students who sat General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level Examinations passed five subjects and rejoiced the improvement in results of Guraidhoo and Maafushi in 2010.
 
Underlining the programmes planned for the development of Guraidhoo, the President revealed that the government intended to reclaim more land in Guraidhoo and provide affordable housing for all in the island.
 
Meeting the people of Maafushi, the President said funding of Mrf30 million was earmarked in this year’s budget for island’s commercial harbour development project and the government intended to develop the harbour as a regional commercial centre.
 
The President visited Gulhi, late evening. Speaking in Gulhi, he revealed that the development of the Gulhi harbour would commence within the year.
 
The purpose of the President’s visit was informing the people on the programmes in this year’s budget for the development of these three islands.
 

The President has returned to Male’, this evening, after concluding his tour to Guraidhoo, Maafushi and Gulhi.