Housing: Cost of the bridge has gone down to USD 200 million

State Minster of the Housing Ministry, Abdulla Muttholib has said that they have managed to bring down the cost for the bridge to be constructed between Malé and Hulhulé to USD 200 million.

A ranking official on the project, Muttholib said that the bridge project can be completed with USD 200 million and it is USD 60 million less than the estimated budget.

With this change, he said that the Government only has to take USD 100 million as a loan.

Muttholib said that the project was awarded to one of the top companies in building bridges across the sea.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad has previously said that the bridge project would cost USD 300 million. USD 100 million of that cost is given by the Chinese Government as free aid while USD 170 million would be given as a loan. The Finance Ministry said that the interest rate for that loan is 2 percent.

The Government has said that it is possible that the USD 100 million in free aid from the Chinese may increase.

The length of the proposed Malé-Hulhulé Bridge is 1.39 kilometers with 20 meters in with according to the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure. The Ministry has said that the project would begin before the end of this year and be completed within two years.