The new government would continue the ongoing project to convert the Equatorial Convention Center (ECC) in the southernmost Atoll Addu City into a 100 bed tertiary hospital, former president Mohamed Nasheed vowed Wednesday.
The incumbent government had initiated the MVR161.8 million project funded by Saudi Fund for Development and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) saying the convention centre constructed by Nasheed's government to host the 2011 SAARC Summit was a "waste of taxpayers money."
Speaking to his supporters during his ongoing trip to the south after returning to the country from self-exile, Nasheed said his government had built the convention centre to facilitate tourism and trade in the region.
Nasheed said stopping the hospital project would no longer be "prudent" and vowed to expedite the project when the new government assumes office later this month.
"We don't destroy. We only build. So I don't believe stopping what president Yameen has started would be wise. I believe that converting the convention centre to a hospital is the only option left," Nasheed said.
