The government had to settle over USD 16.8 million to restart school projects that had been stalled during the previous government due to outstanding payments, the Minister of Education, Dr Ismail Shafeeu told lawmakers on Monday.
Responding to questions from lawmakers during the Parliament sitting on Monday, Minister Dr Shafeeu said multiple school projects in the Atolls had been stalled due to outstanding payments to contractors.
The incumbent Administration, since taking office in November 2023 had brought down the total outstanding to just USD 1.1 million, he explained.
"Even when I was appointed, more than USD 13 million was outstanding. How can we expect a contractor to do the work when they have not been paid after mobilisation,” he said.
The Minister said that if the infrastructure development of schools are delayed, the contract will be prompt terminated and the work will be handed over to another.
According to Minister Dr Shafeeu, some of the stalled school projects have been undertaken by State-owned companies.
Though more than 100 projects have been launched during the last Administration, the 15 percent payment to contractors as stipulated in the contract had not been budgeted for many projects which had created obstacles in the implementation of the projects, he explained.
Minister Dr Shafeeu also said the four-storey school project in Keyodhoo, Vaavu Atoll has been included in this year’s project pipeline.
The Minister explained that USD 97,270 had been allocated in the 2023 budget and USD 130,933 in the 2024 budget for the total USD 1.3 million Keyodhoo school project.
However, the 15 percent of the total project cost as stipulated in the financial regulation had not been included in the budgets of the two years, which had delayed the project, he added.
This Administration has launched multiple initiatives to address the longstanding concerns of rundown schools and lack of educational infrastructure in the Atolls. The government has earmarked USD 32.4 million in this year’s State budget for the development of schools and universities across the country.