Ameer: VIA project stalled over failure to settle USD 100M in bills

Former finance minister Ibrahim Ameer states the Velana International Airport (VIA) development project is stalled over the government’s failure to settle USD 100 million in bills.

Speaking at MDP’s ‘Havaru Beru’ panel last night, Ameer pointed out that the current administration places a high priority on completing and opening VIA’s new terminal before October. Despite this, he said he has been informed the project remains stalled at present.

“I have been informed that the project is almost completely stalled with the government failing to settle USD 100 million in bills,” he said.

According to Ameer, funding for the project had already been secured during the previous MDP administration, when he served as the finance minister. In this regard, he detailed that the funds were arranged via Saudi Fund, Kuwait Fund, Abu Dhabi Development Fund and OPEC Development Fund.

“However, I have been informed that there are bills amounting to approximately USD 100 million that have not been settled, with the government unable to have talks with them,” he said.

As such, he projected that only a segment of the new terminal will be inaugurated on the current date set forth by the government as the project cannot be completed by the target date.

The current administration initially targeted to open VIA’s new terminal last September. With works incomplete, the date was revised to the second quarter of this year.

Transport Minister Mohamed Ameer has stated that the government is targeting to open the new terminal before the scheduled date. However, he did not specify an exact date of completion of the project.

The VIA expansion project will see the construction of a new international passenger terminal, designed to accommodate up to 7.5 million passengers annually. This will mark a significant improvement as the existing terminal’s capacity stands at 1.5 million passengers annually.

The project is being carried out by Saudi’s Bin Laden Group.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu inaugurated the multimillion-dollar VIA development project in January. The project is aimed at boosting Maldives' national airport’s capacity to 25 million passengers per year.

The project involves the expansion of VIA’s services, the expansion of seaplane services, and the development of the international and domestic passenger terminals.

President Muizzu said he hopes to see a lot of the work on the project completed in the next five years, and the bulk of the entire project done in 10 years.