Parliament

It has been revealed that the estimated budget for the Parliament for next year, which is currently under review by Parliament’s General Committee, is 20 percent more than the Parliament budget for this year.

This year’s Parliament budget was MVR230 million, while the estimated budget for next year presented by the Parliament Office Budget Section is MVR277 million, which is a 20 percent increase.

Director of Parliament Office Budge Section Ibrahim Rasheed said when questioned by the Parliament’s General Committee, that the increase is due to the planned construction of a new Parliament building.

Ibrahim Rasheed said that MVR30 million was spent this year alone on the new 10-storey Parliament building. He said that the amount of money to be paid to the contractors next year will be less than the amount paid this year.

The budget also states that 27 additional employees must be hired to Parliament Committees next year.

Amount spent on salaries for Parliament employees, inclusive of the newly-hired employees, totals at MVR7.5 million.

The budget also states that MVR4.9 million is required for employee training, which includes sending three employees abroad for education, and providing education in Male’ to 16 employees.

A ‘study tour’ for Parliament members is also included in the budget; which provides the opportunity for members to visit Singapore, China, Canada, Uganda and India.

Also included is MVR1.7 million for participation by Maldives in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Conference.

The Parliament has not been productive the past eight months, yet MVR113 million has been spent as Parliament expenditures for this period. It is the third most expensive state institution.