President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has refuted the claims about corruption playing a hand in the development of the new 25-storey building for the state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).
Speaking at the ceremony held on Tuesday night at Dharubaaruge to welcome over 2000 new members to the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), the president said that he was aware of the opposition’s claims about how the IGMH building could have been built under a budget of MVR40 million which however had not been backed by any evidence.
“How is it possible to build a 25-storey hospital building, with medical equipment for mere MVR40 million? If [the opposition] think they can do this with a budget of MVR40 million, we will be happy to give them an additional MVR200 million as a gift for the development of the hospital,” Yameen said.
However, the president admitted that the services provided at the state-run hospital could be improved by many folds. The hospital should be able to treat patients with serious cardio-problems, and should have a proper oncology centre, he noted.
He alleged that the opposition does not want to see the government succeed and have IGMH named among the best hospitals in the South Asia. He assured that IGMH will soon be equipped at a state-of-the-art level so that all citizens can benefit from it.
Despite the opposition’s frivolous accusations about corrupt deals being brokered during the construction of the new IGMH building, the president highlighted how the Anti-Corruption Commission of Maldives had, in fact, investigated these claims and concluded that they were baseless allegations.
“There is no corruption involved in this. I do not want to wait two months without doing any work [in the construction of the building] just so I can save MVR500. Our goal is to fast-track any work that leans towards the progress of the nation. And if there are any speculations of corruption playing a hand, there is an independent institution to look into such claims,” President Yameen said.
The new 25-storey annex of IGMH is a project worth approximately MVR2.1 billion.
Six floors of the new hospital is to be dedicated to a ‘national diagnostics centre’, while specialised laboratories and equipment will be established so that patients can run all the tests they need within the building. Some of the administrative work of the state-run hospital is also to be carried out in the new building.
