President’s Office: Physical works on cancer hospital to commence next year

The President’s Office, on Wednesday, has stated that physical works on the cancer hospital planned to be developed in L. Gan will commence next year.

Miuvaan Mohamed, Spokesperson of the President’s Office, told Sun on Wednesday said that a detailed project review of the hospital commenced last month, and is still ongoing.

He said that physical works on the hospital can be commenced next year, following the completion of the detailed project review.

“Physical works on such huge projects can only be commenced after an abundance of research and after fulfilling many prerequisite stages,” he added.

During a meeting held with Gan councilors last year’s November 20^th – President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said the physical works on the cancer hospital and the tertiary hospital planned to be developed in Gan will commence this year.

The end of the year has approached without physical work on the projects commencing. Answering a question posed during a press conference last week, Spokesperson Miuvaan said that there were difficulties in acquiring some resources for the projects in light of the changes to the world economy. He added that the companies were facing difficulties subsequently as well.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the development of a cancer hospital in the Maldives by India during a virtual ceremony held on December 4, 2019. The project will be funded under India's Exim Bank's USD 800 million line of credit.

A team from India had traveled to Maldives regarding the work on the cancer hospital earlier.

Maldives has recently seen an increase in cancer patients, a deadly disease. Due to limited healthcare resources available to treat cancer in the Maldives – such patients are often forced to travel abroad for treatment.

The government has stated that all services required by cancer patients will be facilitated at the hospital once complete.