Govt blames city council for delay in market redevelopment

The Ministry of Housing, Land and Urban Development said on Tuesday that delays in the redevelopment of the Malé market area are due to the failure of the Malé City Council to hand over the required land for the project.

The redevelopment project was awarded to Maldives Transport and Contracting Company on March 15 at a cost of MVR 117 million.

According to the agreement, the project is to be completed within two years, with payments scheduled over four years and two months.

The project involves the construction of a six-storey market building covering 85,000 square feet.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the ministry said all administrative procedures and financing arrangements required to begin physical works had been completed by both the ministry and the contractor.

However, the ministry stated that repeated requests to the City Council for the handover of the site had not produced results.

According to the ministry, the following correspondence took place regarding the site handover:

“While administrative and financial arrangements are complete and the contractor is fully mobilized to begin work, the sole reason for the delay is the failure to vacate and hand over the designated land to the Ministry,” the statement said.

According to the ministry, the new market building will include a fire-fighting system, five elevators, steel fixtures for fish stalls, wooden produce crates and a five-tonne ice machine.

The ministry also released details of the proposed layout: