President Mohamed Muizzu has given a second deadline to establish laboratory services in all the islands after failing to fulfil the pledge for the first deadline of May 2024.

Muizzu is currently campaigning in Shaviyani atoll for the upcoming local council elections. Speaking in one of the islands, he said the project will be completed by the end of 2026.

"Hopefully by the end of next year, there will not be a single island in the country that will not have a laboratory that fits a standard set by the Ministry of Health," he said in Noomaraa island.

The project was launched in February 2024. It aims to begin laboratory service in 76 islands which do not have access to the service.

The government launched the service in four islands in February 2024 and said the remaining 72 islands would have the service by May 2024.

But the government failed to meet the deadline. The Health Ministry could not be reached for comment.