Government office building in Hulhumale to open with US embassy
MVR 77.7 million is paid annually for state office spaces rented in Male which is 64% of the budget allocated for state rent expenditure.
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
A new government office building in Hulhumale being built at a cost of MVR 185 million has been completed and is set to open next month, planning ministry said Saturday.
The first ever US embassy to open in Maldives as well as other ministry offices are to be relocated to the building.
State planning minister Akram Kamaluddin told Atoll Times on Saturday that the six-floor office building will be opened in November.
Akram said the building would house offices for:
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New US embassy
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Transport ministry
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Higher education ministry
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Gender ministry
Akram said that the planning ministry had previously been planning to relocate to the building as well, but he said that priority has now been given to relocating the government office buildings leased in Male.
"All offices operated under these ministries will also be relocated to this building," Akram added regarding the building that is located near Tree Top Hospital in Hulhumale.
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The project was awarded to Hunan No.6 Engineering Co.Ltd., the company that constructed the Hulhule-Male-Hulhumale highway
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The project was awarded on 21 October 2019 to be completed within one year, but work was halted due to the pandemic
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Each floor has 25,000 square feet, and the ground floor will be used for reception and car parking
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The second floor is dedicated to motorcycle parking and four floors are allocated for offices. The top floor will be used for meetings, as a convection area
Relocating rented state offices to the new building will bring some relief to the state budget. It is a matter of great concern for the finance ministry that such state expenditure has been increasing from year to year.
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State paid rent to 138 locations in Male in 2020
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MVR 77.7 million is paid annually for state office spaces rented in Male which is 64% of the budget allocated for state rent expenditure
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43 establishments leased from Male to run government offices
