Local telecom provider Dhiraagu has disconnected the phone lines of Laamu Gan Regional Hospital over an unpaid bill of MVR 600,000 (US$38,910) owed for setting up a network at the hospital’s new building, reports Haveeru.
Fathmath Barriya, head of the regional hospital, told the newspaper yesterday that the hospital was now unable to use its phone or fax and that Laamu residents were unable to call the ambulance number.
She explained that construction of the new building was completed on June 2011 and Dhiraagu had billed the hospital at the time.
Asked for help, the Health Ministry had instructed the hospital to settle the bill from its budget through monthly instalments, Barriya said. However, she added that the hospital did not have funds in its budget to pay the outstanding amount.
Dhiraagu has informed the hospital that the phone line would be connected when it submits an assurance in writing to settle the bill in monthly payments, she said.
She further noted that although the ministry made the contract with Dhiraagu, the former head of the hospital signed it. Employees involved in the project insisted that the ministry was supposed to pay for the project, she said.
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