No engineer questioning Thilamale Bridge quality, Aslam says

Planning minister Mohamed Aslam said on Monday that there are no engineers who have expressed their concerns regarding the quality of the Thilamale Bridge, the biggest project undertaken by the government.

During a question posed to the minister during Monday's parliament sitting, Maavah MP and opposition PNC vice-president Mohamed Saeed said that many engineers in the country have concerns about the quality of work done by contractor, India's Afcons Infrastructure. The concern is with the international community as well, Saeed said.

Reacting to Saeed's remarks, Aslam said such an allegation should have been confirmed with evidence and he was not aware that engineers, both at home or abroad, had questioned the quality of the project.

"I've never heard any engineer come and say it to me. I have never heard of any such statement made by people from abroad," Aslam said.

He said the responsible way to make such a claim on the parliament floor regarding a major infrastructure project is to confirm it first.

"The claim by some engineers in the country that there is a problem with the quality of work done by Afcons has not been substantiated [confirmed] and I don't think it can be said here," he said.

Afcons, which is also undertaking the Addu road development project as well, has been put up for sale by its parent company, Shapoorji Pallonji. On Thursday, the President's Office had said that projects would not be stalled due to that decision.

Another questions the minister was asked by Naifaru MP Ahmed Shiyam was whether the decision would affect the bridge project. Aslam said that he had been assured that the sale of Afcons by its parent company would not affect the bridge project.

"I don't believe that this project will be affected. This is not something new happening in the world," Aslam said, citing the example of how TMA owners, which operate seaplanes in the country, have also changed several times but the operation has not been affected.