Male’, Maldives – President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that the country’s political and social have been stabilized and that 2021 would be the year of developmental projects for the country.
President Solih said that the most important work which has been done during the first two years was to develop an environment for a stable and peaceful livelihood in the country, while speaking at the ceremony held to celebrate the 52nd Republic Day of Maldives. In his address with the nation, President Solih stated that the third year of presidency is to start while the nation is still trying to recover from the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He assured that even with the current Covid-19 pandemics situation, that the government would fulfill its promises to the people. President stated that a total of 372 new projects would commence in 2021 along with the ongoing 154 projects and that the governments plan was to complete all projects by 2023.
President Solih also assured the citizens that he would maintain the religious unity of the country as well as the independence and sovereignty of the Maldives as long as he was the president of the country.
Highlighting the projects, President Solih told that 56 projects of the health sector including the five tertiary hospitals would also begin within the next year and by the end of the year, people can get service from all the tertiary hospitals. In addition to this, the water and sewage projects for the remaining islands without it would also begin by 2021 and would be completed by 2023.
President Solih also pointed out that Covid-19 pandemic had thought the country that it could not always depend on the tourism sector for the majority of the country’s income and that the government has plans to develop fisheries and agriculture industry of the country. In addition to this, the president also stated that high priority would be given to mental health, youth development, education and the environment.
President Solih also highlighted that they had started work on developmental projects back in 2018 with a proper plan and all of that was hindered due to the Covid-19 pandemic which no one had expected to happen. He added that in addition to being a health crisis, the pandemic had also became an economical crisis to the nation, which lead to the government to change the order of developmental plans to reduce government spending and diverted the finance to saving of human lives.
He added that the government prioritized assisting the citizens, providing basic services and projection to the people without any obstruction so that the government could function properly. President Solih also said that the people did not have to face any shortages in food and medicines during this period due to the swift actions taken by the government amid the pandemic.
President Solih stated that the most important thing which the government would focus on addressing was to develop human capacity, during this time when the country. President Solih also highlighted that infrastructural and human capital would be allocated to develop holistic educational systems in five regions of the country.
He also stated that one of the biggest achievement of the two years of this government was to have provided degree scholarships for 8,200 students under the free degree program and that 1,082 students had gotten student loans to study in 23 countries around the world.
