Athifa: Several housing units ‘in state of derelict’

Housing Minister Aminath Athifa Shakoor says several of the state housing units in the atolls are in a state of derelict due to lack of maintenance.

Minister Athifa was summoned by the Parliament this Monday morning in response to a request for questioning filed by Vilufushi MP Hassan Afeef.

Afeef made the request to obtain a response from the Housing Minister regarding the suspension of the construction of 64 housing units in Vilufushi.

Athifa informed the Parliament that construction of over 1,450 housing units in the atolls are currently at a standstill.

“Though construction work is complete in some of the locations, it lacks basic services to make it fit for human inhabitation. And since some of the locations were left without anyone to look after its maintenance, many of the housing units are in a state of derelict,” said Athifa.

She said the Housing Ministry was working on repairing the housing units which have fallen into ruin within the available budget.

She said MVR 127 million in additional funds have been allocated to the housing budget to make the housing units fit for human inhabitation. And that funds to carry out work on housing units which aren’t covered in the current year’s budget have been allocated in the budget drafted for 2020.

Athifa added that quality control was a top priority by the current administration in construction of housing units.

“The biggest issue which arises with such housing units is the additional repairs which need to be carried out to prepare it for inhabitation by tenants due to lack of quality control,” she said.