The government has reopened state institutions that provide essential services for the people.

This was announced through a directive, the 16th one by the President’s Office this year, on Saturday.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih decided to partially open government institutions from May 31 to June 11, to allow essential services.

Working days will be limited to Monday Tuesday and Wednesday during this period and official working hours have been set from 9am to 1pm.

Although some government offices and institutions have been reopened, they are not open for the general public. As such, individuals may not enter any of the premises seeking services.

The 16th directive states that this will facilitate the government to complete urgent and essential tasks required by the people and also highlights that the respective government institution’s management must determine whether or not to deploy employees to complete tasks that arise during a time or day of the week when the institution is closed.

While doing so, these institutions must ensure that a minimum number of employees attend to such cases.

Further, the directive notes that it is mandatory for institutions to inform the Health Protection Agency (HPA) throughout this process, of the task they wish to complete outside of working hours.

They are also to seek HPA’s recommendations before deploying employees to work.

Employees at these state institutions must adhere to all safety instructions by the HPA for their own safety against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The president has urged employees who are able to provide their services through online platforms to continue to do so at home.

The government initially decided to close all government offices and institutions on March 19, and some of them have been re-opened after a period of two months.