First Light

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said heavy rain since Thursday night had flooded homes on several northern islands. Edition reported (opens in a new tab) that water entered 95 percent of houses in HDh. Nolhivaranfaru, some residents were relocated, and the island council appealed to the MNDF after trenches and pumps failed to stop the flooding.

The NDMA said more than 190 houses in Kulhudhuffushi reported flooding, with the council, MNDF, police and Red Crescent dewatering, and that two houses were affected in Lh. Naifaru. Atoll Times, citing a Friday NDMA update, (opens in a new tab) gives a lower figure for Nolhivaranfaru, saying more than 60 households reported water entering their homes, and adds that no evacuation was needed. The accounts differ and the gap is unexplained. Edition's Kulhudhuffushi report (opens in a new tab) quotes the Deputy Mayor, Ali Ahmed, putting rain-damaged houses at 112 that morning. The council set up a hotline, 652 7211, to report damage.

Most of these updates were issued on Friday; later NDMA assessments were not available to us.

Housing Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib has said applications for the "Help to Build" and "Help to Buy" schemes will open in November, according to Edition (opens in a new tab). Sun reported (opens in a new tab) that the Housing Ministry had earlier signed MoUs with four lenders: Bank of Maldives, Maldives Islamic Bank, HDFC and MFLC.

Help to Build is for landowners lacking adequate housing. Edition's earlier report (opens in a new tab) says the grant is non-repayable, up to MVR 200,000 towards equity on a MVR 1 million loan, repayable if the building is sold within 20 years. Atoll Times says (opens in a new tab) the first phase covers Malé and inhabited islands, excluding Hulhumalé, Vilimalé, Gulhifalhu and Giraavarufalhu. Help to Buy offers first-time buyers up to MVR 250,000 towards an affordable PPP unit priced at MVR 1.5 million, or a market-rate unit, Edition says.

Edition cites studies showing more than half of surveyed households have no savings, and that saving MVR 3,000 a month would take about 10 years to reach the MVR 400,000 equity for a MVR 2 million apartment.

The President's Office said on 24 October (press release 2026-634) that President Dr Mohamed Muizzu shared a message (opens in a new tab) for United Nations Day. The message says the UN was founded 81 years ago on the principle that all states are entitled to peace, dignity and sovereignty. It says the organisation's credibility rests on trust and accountability, and that rising geopolitical tensions and the selective application of international law are testing that trust. It cites the human cost in states such as Palestine.

For the Maldives, the message says the freedom to chart its own future must be matched by the means to realise national ambitions. It names unsustainable debt and unequal access to finance and technology as constraints on small island developing states. It says international cooperation should let the country invest in its people, strengthen its economy and build resilience, in pursuit of developed-country status by 2040. It closes by saying the destiny of no country should be determined by the power of another.