President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on Tuesday night denied the opposition's claims about the current government halting ongoing development projects on islands after assuming office.
Speaking at a campaign rally near the Hiya flats, Muizzu accused the previous government of stopping projects. The current government was carrying out 527 projects, including new projects and projects that stalled during the previous government, the President said.
"What we're hearing is that we haven't done any work in the four and a half months since we took over. That we took over and stopped work that the previous government had been doing at high speed. There's no reason we should be people who listen to such talk when we can see things in front of our eyes," the President said.
Most projects launched by the previous government stalled because of mismanagement and failure to pay contractors, the President said.
"We came and looked at the reasons the work was halted and the records show that the projects stopped because of not making payments owed to contractors. Nine thousand million, not a small amount of money, was owed to various companies when the previous government ended," he said.
The President's figures
- Water and sewerage projects - 27 projects stalled, 74 projects ongoing
- Harbors, land reclamation and revetment - projects stalled on 30 islands, 90 projects ongoing
- Airport development projects - stalled on seven islands, started on seven islands
- Road construction projects - projects stalled on 17 islands, ongoing on 24 islands
- Development of pitches and courts - 84 projects stalled, out of which 71 have now resumed
- Mosque building - 20 mosque projects stalled, 42 projects ongoing
- Education sector - 90 projects stalled, 217 projects ongoing
- Total 527 projects underway across the country
In his speech at last night's rally, the President said even a political partisan would know that he was speaking the truth. This was how it should be as Muslims, he added.
"Even the person completely soaked in political thought and completely gone over to one side should think, 'I am someone with a brain given by Allah,' that I have a responsibility to think with that brain as a Muslim as well," President Muizzu said.
According to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the current government stopped a total of 1,720 projects after coming to power.
"These are very important projects tied to the basic rights of citizens. This Constitution that we are following obliges the state and the President to prioritize assuring the basic rights of citizens in spending taxpayer's money," Ahmed Easa, the party's spokesperson, said at a press conference.
