India on Sunday handed over the final shipment of vehicles and machinery procured for the Male' City Council through the financial support of the Indian government.
The vehicles were presented to Maldives by Indian High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir, at a virtual ceremony held to mark the completion of the procurement.
The ceremony was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid and Male' City Mayor Shifa Mohamed, along with officials of the government, Council and High Commission.
The government of India extended a grant of MVR 8 million for Male' City Council to procure total 16 vehicles and machinery needed to increase performance capacity and reliability of services provided to the people of the capital.
The first batch of vehicles and machinery were handed over to the Council on February 12 this year.
Speaking at the ceremony, Foreign Minister Shahid declared that the vehicles and machinery procured with India's assistance would improve the quality and efficiency of services provided to the residents of Male' City.
Happy to participate in the handover ceremony of vehicles &equipment to @MaleCitymv, procured with 🇮🇳 assistance. Male’ City is home to over 1/3 of the Maldives population, and this project will boost the Council’s capacity to provide reliable services to the people of this City. pic.twitter.com/ZjGswQRqTv
— Abdulla Shahid (@abdulla_shahid) August 23, 2020
Mayor Shifa Mohamed also thanked the Indian government for extending financial support to improve the Council's work.
Highlighting that approximately half of the Maldivian population resided in Male', High Commissioner Sudhir stated that the grant extended to Male' City Council was of special importance as the projects implemented in the capital would directly benefit half the national population.
"We are very impressed with the consistent efforts of the @MaleCitymv led by @SifaMohammed to modernize and beautify #Male city as well as strengthen the civic infrastructure"- HC Sunjay Sudhir at the handover ceremony of vehicles held earlier today. @MoFAmv https://t.co/Jv47uWtzdf
— India in Maldives (@HCIMaldives) August 23, 2020
India provided the financial support to the Council under the grant assistance of USD 6.9 million (MVR 106 million) which was extended to the Maldivian government in March 2019. The grant assistance aims to conduct high-impact socio-economic development projects across the country, which are managed by local authorities.