Health Ministry hand over MVR 68 million to complete new IGMH building

A MVR 68 million (US$4.4 million) project has been handed over to AMIN Construction in order to complete the new 11-storey building of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

Local media reported that an agreement was signed at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health by Health Minister Dr Ahmed Jamsheed and Managing Director of AMIN Construction Abdullah Mohamed.

Earlier this month the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had ordered a temporary halt to the construction of the building in order to investigate a matter regarding the project handover to AMIN Construction.

Dr Jamsheed told reporters at the ceremony yesterday (February 18) that construction of the building had been halted for various reasons, and that funds had been obtained to complete the project prior to the handover.

“The project was commenced to build private rooms to solve the problem of lack of space at IGMH. We have made major changes to the project. By the time the changes were made, the main concrete and construction work had been completed,” Jamsheed was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

The money for the project, according to local media, had been obtained as a loan from the Islamic Bank.

President of the ACC Hassan Luthfy said a complaint had prompted the commission to investigate the project handover over claims that the handover was made at an excessive cost.

“We received a complaint that the project was handed over a second time with an increase in cost. The commission is currently summoning and questioning the relevant parties,” he said earlier this month.

Investigations into the handover have now been concluded according to the ACC president.

MD of Amin Construction Abdullah Mohamed however, told local media that work had been halted due to payments owed to the company. Mohamed was quoted as saying that construction on the building will commence tomorrow.

The building was commissioned by the government to alleviate space constraints in the hospital, which was gifted to the Maldives by the Indian government.

Last month IGMH struggled to deal with the influx of patients prompting concerns as to whether the hospital was large enough to cope with the demand for medical care in Male’.

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