Minister: Arabiyya’s new building delayed, but its saving MVR 80m in taxpayers’ money

Education Minister Dr. Ismail Shafeeu told the Parliament on Wednesday that while the construction of a new school building for the Arabiyya School has gotten delayed, the delay is one that has saved MVR 80 million in taxpayers’ money.

Shafeeu, who was summoned to a parliamentary sitting on Wednesday morning, was questioned by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s parliamentary group leader Ibrahim Nazil regarding the project – which the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) administration had previously pledged to begin in its first 100 days in office.

In response to the question, Shafeeu said the administration was forced to change the project plan to save MVR 80 million in costs.

Shafeeu believes it was the right decision.

Shafeeu said the main reason for the cut down in the cost of the project was the decision to change the project site from the old Jamaluddin School plot to the former Male’ waste collection point. He said that the government also made other modern changes to the project plan.

“I want to say this clearly that we could have carried out this project as planned. If we had wanted to get it done at an inflated value by MVR 80 million of taxpayers’ money,” he said, explaining the reason for the delay in the project.

Shafeeu said that the temporary building that Arabiyya School is being run out of, the former Foreign Ministry office building, is in good condition.

He said the building meets the educational needs of the students and protects their human rights.

He said that there’s therefore nothing much the students are losing due to the delay in the project.

“Therefore, this delay is to save MVR 80 million in taxpayers’ money. I believe this delay is a good one and one that is desirable,” he said.

In 2022, the then-MDP administration awarded the project to construct the Arabiyya School building to Amin Construction for MVR 168.5 million. But the PNC administration decided to change the location. The contract with Amin Construction was terminated in September after the company refused to agree to run the project for a lower price.