Ministry of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has begun to demolish the Huravee Building in Male' City.
The ministry stated that work to demolish the building will last until June in order to establish a public park with a parking area in the land plot. The 35-year-old building in Male' had housed many state institutions including the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Maldives Transport Authority, Maldives Immigration, and some units of the Male' City Council.
The four-storey building was built using coral as the construction material in the early years of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's administration. The structure had been showing signs of wear and tear, with occasional collapses of parts of the building, which had damaged motorcycles parked outside and injured an elderly bystander. Huravee has now been emptied and its offices transferred to other buildings.
The decision to demolish Huravee was initially made in 2010 during the administration of former President Mohamed Nasheed. However, the plan was not implemented as there were no other buildings to transfer the government offices at the time.