The Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy has contracted STELCO to rectify and upgrade the sewerage system in Adh. Mahibadhoo. The agreement, signed on 22 October, is worth MVR 21,572,640.09 and gives the company 180 days to finish the work.
Ali Shareef, Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy, signed for the ministry. STELCO was represented by Abdulla Nazir, its deputy managing director.
The faults are not described
Neither party has said what is wrong with the existing network, whether blockages, physical damage or a system carrying more than it was built for. The Standard reported on 23 October that the scope of construction, a start date and the technical improvements had not been disclosed. The ministry says the work is meant to rectify existing issues and make sewerage management on the island more reliable.
A build job for a company that usually operates
STELCO's own account of its sewerage work places design and implementation with the environment and construction ministries, leaving the company to operate and maintain systems once they are handed over. The Mahibadhoo contract puts the works themselves in STELCO's hands.
The company reported 20 islands on sewerage service and 137,715 metres of network in 2024, across Kaafu, Alif Alif, Alif Dhaal and Vaavu atolls.
Already across Alif Dhaal
Mahibadhoo is the administrative capital of Alif Dhaal, and STELCO is not new to the atoll. Its project list records a power house and sewerage site at Adh. Omadhoo commissioned on 28 July 2021, and power houses at Mandhoo, Fenfushi, Hangnameedhoo, Dhigurah and Kunburudhoo commissioned through the first half of 2022.
The contract sets a 180-day completion period rather than a date. Neither the ministry nor STELCO has said when work on the island begins.
