Minister of Construction and Infrastructure Dr Abdulla Muththalib has claimed today that companies take advance funds for project implementation, and then use those funds on other business activities.
Minister of Construction and Infrastructure Dr Abdulla Muththalib has claimed today that companies take advance funds for project implementation, and then use those funds on other business activities.
Responding to an MP's question about projects in today's parliament sitting, the Minister said that companies have taken advance for projects in 2023 and the year before as well, and then offered no further details about how the money was spent.
Muththalib said that it is reasons like this that are behind most projects ending up being halted, saying that companies take the funds but do not conduct the necessary work.
He said that instead, the companies use the funds to conduct other business activities, and again bid for new projects after five to ten years.
"Advance money is taken from State projects to run their own businesses. This causes major loss to the State," Muththalib said.
As another reason for projects being halted, Muththalib said that the previous government had signed to conduct projects beyond what was possible in the budget.
Muththalib said that projects worth MVR 39 billion had been signed for the past year, which could not have been completed even through using the entire State budget.
He further said that the budget allocation for projects last year was insufficient, and it was a challenge to proceed projects with the funds allocated.
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