Malé, Maldives – Education Minister, Dr Aishath Ali has told that the new building of Arabiyya School was not included in the state budget for next year due to an administrative error.
The issue came to public attention after PPM MP Ahmed Thorig expressed concern yesterday that the budget did not include the construction of a building for Arabiyya School.
2023 national budget presented to the parliament by Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer on Monday included MVR 34.7 million for Arabiyya School’s expenses but there was no mention of the new school building to be built on the land of old Jamaluddin School.
Local media have reported that the Education Minister had told that it happened due to an administrative error and the Finance Ministry was also looking into what happened.
The government awarded the contract to Amin Construction on September 29 last year and the design and build project is expected to be completed in 420 days at a cost of MVR 168 million. The cost of the project includes building of Arabiyya School new building as well as the extension project of Jamaluddin School.
Arabiyya School’s previous building was constructed and opened in 2013. The less-than-ten-year-old building had multiple cracks in the building beams, and parents and the public alike raised concerns about the safety of the building.
Following these concerns, the school was shifted to the old Foreign Ministry building until the permanent building is constructed.
