Fenaka dismissed 1,780 employees: Muaz

Managing Director of Fenaka, Muaz Mohamed Rasheed, speaking at the State Owned Enterprise (SOE) Committee of the Parliament today, has stated the company has let go of 1,780 employees who were hired by the previous government, ahead of the Presidential Elections held last year.

Answering to the SOE Committee after he was summoned over allegations of hiring new employees in violation of the company’s HR policy by the new management of Fenaka, Muaz said that no employees have been hired or let go in violation of the company’s HR policy since the new administration took over.

However, he highlighted that a significant number of employees were hired ahead of the Presidential Election last year. Detailing his claims, Muaz said that a total of 2,105 employees were recruited between the dates of January 1, 2023 and September 9, 2023. Prior to that, the company staffed 4,825 individuals, said Muaz.

He also added that an additional 122 employees were hired between the first and second rounds of the Presidential Election. Muaz said that these employees were hired to resume the halted projects and that their contracts are nearing expiration.

“We decided not to renew [those] contracts. To hire employees after organizing and stabilizing the projects,” he said.

However, despite letting go of nearly 1,800 employees hired by the previous administration, a total of 1,529 new staff were also hired by the company to resume projects to be completed by Fenaka, Muaz said. These employees joined the company between January of this year and April 20.

The parliamentary election of Maldives was held on April, 20, 2024.

According to him, these employees were hired after formulating the Bills of Quantity (BoQ), Bills of Material (BoM) and identifying the number of employees required for the projects.

While this is the case, it is not the first time Fenaka has been accused of hiring employees ahead of elections. Allegations of hiring employees to run local offices of Fenaka, sometimes exceeding the physical office spaces available, have surrounded the company over the years.

Previous attempts to obtain the actual number of employees working for Fenaka were unsuccessful during former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration, despite requests for the details under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.