16 health sector projects initiated by previous administration terminated: Geela

Minister of Health, Family and Welfare Geela Ali has announced that the current administration has cancelled 16 health sector projects initiated by the previous government.

Geela made these remarks during Monday's parliamentary sitting, in response to a member's inquiry regarding the delays in the healthcare system and the factors contributing to the sector's decline.

Although these projects were initiated and funded by the MDP administration, Geela stated that the decision to cancel them was made because no physical progress had been achieved despite the significant amount of time that has passed.

According to the Ministry of Health, approximately MVR 60 million has already been disbursed as advance payments for these 16 projects. However, Geela stated that the decision to terminate the contracts was made because the continued stagnation of these projects is causing significant detrimental impact to the healthcare sector.

The Minister noted that the legal procedures required to recover the funds had not been completed. However, he stated that those efforts are now underway.

Sixteen projects have now been terminated or halted, despite approximately 60 million Rufiyaa already being disbursed as advance payments for these initiatives.

Geela Ali

As an example of the terminated projects, the Minister cited the Ihavandhoo Hospital project in Haa Alif Atoll. Minister Geela stated that although the previous administration had issued an advance payment, no actual work had been carried out on the project.

Consequently, the project was terminated in March of last year. The Minister stated that while infrastructure development projects may take time, the government is committed to ensuring that healthcare systems are established in a manner that prevents any disruption to public health services.

In response to this information, the presiding Speaker and Member for Eydhafushi, Ahmed Saleem, stated that the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee is currently conducting a serious investigation into such cases where state funds have been disbursed for projects that remain stalled.

A notable development regarding the Ihavandhoo Hospital project is that the current administration ordered the contractor to halt work after taking office, despite the project having been previously awarded by the former government. Speaking to RaajjeMV, the contractor explained that the order to stop the project came after the company had already cleared the site, relocated the existing palm trees, and excavated the trenches for the foundation. Furthermore, all necessary materials for the foundation work had already been transported to Ihavandhoo at the time the instruction was issued.

The current administration has awarded the project to the Road Development Corporation (RDC). President Muizzu has also assured the residents of Ihavandhoo that the hospital's construction will be completed at an accelerated pace.

However, to this day, the work has failed to make any significant progress.