After a months-long hiatus, the development project of the new passenger terminal at the Velana International Airport (VIA) between Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) and Saudi Arabia’s Binladin Group (SBG) has re-commenced.

A new Memorandum of Understanding was signed during a ceremony held at VIA on Thursday where Managing Director of MACL, Moosa Solih signed on behalf of the company and Chief Operations Officer of Saudi Binladin Group.

While the ceremony was joined by the Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer, MACL’s board members as well as airport stakeholders and SBG officials had also attended.

During the ceremony, SBG’s Chief Operations Officer stated that re-commencement of the project is a great honor and that it was only possible due to the assistance of the Saudi Fund for Development which funds the government of the Maldives.

Earlier, MACL’s MD Solih had assured that the development project will be completed by 2022, however, the project had been at a halt since. Solih revealed that the delay is because the project was being funded through four different parties.

Tasked to SBG, the project worth MVR 5.3 billion, initially began in 2016, was set to conclude in 2019.

The terminal is being built on a plot of land measuring 78,000 square feet. Upon the completion of the project, the current terminal will be used for domestic landings, said MACL. The new passenger terminal is part of phase II of the airport development project.

While the project was halted for over two years, MACL re-affirmed that the terminal will be completed with traditional designs.