Not a single elevator to be added to the Hiya towers has been brought to service 462 days after the contract for elevator installation was awarded under the first 100-day pledges of the government.
Shenyang Yuanda Intellectual Industry Group of China was contracted on February 12, 2024, to install 32 additional elevators in the 16 Hiya residential towers. The initial agreed-upon date for completion of the work was January 30, 2025.
However, the deadline was extended till April 15. The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) took reporters to the area on May 9 and said the elevators would be installed by November.
HDC Assistant Director, Marketing and Public Relations Hassan Shaheed told the media that the elevators installed in H1 and H2 towers will be operational starting May 12. However, to date, no elevator has been put to use.
Shaheed also said the H3 and H4 elevators, with completed structure and installation, will be operational later in May.
Although the HDC said the work of installing elevators would be completed by November, the structure required to install the elevators in some of the towers has not yet started.
The installation of additional elevators in Hiya towers was included in the budget approved for last year as part of the government's 100-day agenda.
The amount budgeted at the time was MVR 200 million. However, the amount for the project was revised and written as MVR 108 million in the state budget for this year. The rest of the money is believed to be spent from the HDC budget.
The Chinese company was contracted to install the elevators at a cost of MVR 8.8 million per elevator. This means the total cost is MVR 17.6 million to install elevators in all the towers.
The elevators include a stretcher elevator and a passenger elevator. The passenger elevator can carry 16 people at a time. In addition to installing the elevators, the work also includes the establishment of the structure required to install the elevators.
