The Government has extended the deadline for submitting proposals for two significant infrastructure projects: the Central Prison Complex and Hope Island, a rehabilitation facility for juvenile offenders.

The deadline for submissions is now 2:00 p.m. on May 18, 2025.

The extension comes as part of the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology's call for investors to propose sustainable and profitable financing models for the projects, which will be developed on Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) under a contractor-financed model. Both projects aim to centralise the country’s prison facilities and provide a dedicated rehabilitation space for minors in a modern setting.

According to the Ministry, investors may choose from four financing models:

Hope Island will be developed on 15 hectares of dredged land and is expected to house up to 700 individuals, including staff. Facilities will include residential units, an educational hub, training centre, sports areas, a medical unit, a mosque with a capacity for 700, and community spaces for family interaction. Children admitted to the facility will remain until the age of 18, participating in behavioural, educational, vocational, and employment-readiness programmes.

Meanwhile, 30 hectares will be dredged for the central prison complex, which is designed to house up to 6,000 inmates. The site will include residential quarters, a drug rehabilitation centre, halfway house, education and training units, a medical centre, and a mosque with a capacity of 1,000. The complex is designed to address challenges in managing prison services currently dispersed across multiple islands.

Both facilities are set to be completed and handed over to the Government by October 2027.