Minister of Cities, Local Government and Public Works Adam Shareef Umar has announced that the construction of council buildings will proceed on a contractor finance basis. The decision was made as the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) does not allocate sufficient funds for building council facilities.
Speaking to PSM News, Minister Shareef said that PSIP lack sufficient funds, although the government plans to construct 55 council buildings. As such, he said that the projects cannot be carried out in the most appropriate manner. He, therefore, said that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has decided to move forward with these projects on a contractor finance basis. He said that the goal is to identify the islands where land has been allocated, finalise the drawings for the council buildings, and commence practical work within the year.
Additionally, Minister Adam Shareef said that the government has decided to rebuild the 50 most dilapidated council buildings. He noted that the Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure had prepared the designs and shared them with the government of China, with hopes to start construction within this year. He also said that the buildings will be pre-fabricated with assistance from the Chinese government, and work on these 50 island councils will be carried out simultaneously.
Furthermore, Minister Shareef highlighted that the new buildings will be spacious and designed to provide the necessary facilities for the operations of the council. The government also aims to construct 102 dilapidated island council buildings during this term.