MTCC to employ alternative technology to substitute reinforcement boulders in harbour construction

Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has started seeking an alternative technology to using reinforcement boulders in their harbour construction projects.

Answering a question by one of the shareholder’s during the company Annual General Meeting last night, MTCC’s Chief Executive Office (CEO) Dr. Ahmed Abdulla said that harbour development projects have become one of their biggest enterprises and that they have to find alternative to being dependent on importing raw materials from one specific country.

Dr. Ahmed Abdulla said that the company is now looking into alternative technologies to substitute reinforcement boulders, due to their recent difficulties in obtaining the product.

“We have got used to the price of reinforcement boulders that we import from India so it is very difficult to change the concepts. We have tried very hard to obtain reinforcement boulders from other countries. We are also speaking with Housing Ministry to move onto other designs. Either tetrapods, or some other design, to find a alternative technology to substitute reinforcement boulders,” the CEO said.

He said that cooperation with the Housing Ministry shows hope that an alternative technology can be implemented within one year’s time.

The CEO went on to say that MTCC needs to venture into new businesses in the future, especially new fronts that will gain more foreign currency. He said that the company is in a good position to undertake the operation of a shipping ling for which the government has recently announced, and said that they are also considering of investing more dredging and land reclamation projects.

When a shareholder asked about the company’s efforts to utilize their lands to earn more income, Dr. Ahmed Abdulla said that the company has plans to establish an entertainment centre at the Vilimale’ ferry terminal in Male’ and that it is being delayed because the Male’ City Council could not come to agree with certain terms for the project. He said that the matter is currently being contested in court and the company’s lawyers are trying to expedite the case.

One of the shareholder’s also proposed that the company change the manner in which they decide on the salaries and provisions for the board of directors and to publish the amount spent by the company on their board of directors.

There was air of contentment in MTCC’s AGM last night, which did not see many challenges from the shareholders but on the contrary, saw the shareholders thank the company’s board of directors for the progress MTCC has made during the past year.