Ihusan said that he would lodge a case with the Anti Corruption Commission seeking a criminal investigation against previous government leaders as their negligence in resolving the issue caused millions in loss to the State.
Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusan has said today that it was the previous government who was negligent and failed to make a decision on the agreement made with Malaysia's Bestinet to create the XPat System, stating that he would lodge a case at the Anti Corruption Commission against previous government leaders.
Ihusan made these comments in parliament today, where he was summoned to be answerable to a no-confidence motion submitted against him signed by opposition Maldivian Democratic Party's twelve members.
One of the allegations raised against Ihusan is of stopping the locally made expat system used by Immigration to monitor the affairs of work visa holders and awarding the project to Malaysia's black listed company Bestinet.
Under this agreement, MVR 460 million has to be paid. The motion states that this agreement was made in a manner that causes avoidable loss to the State.
Responding to this, Ihusan said today that work with Bestinet had been commenced in 2015 during the administration of former President Abdulla Yameen.
The agreement at the time had been for a period of 15 years, which was halted after a decision was made in 2019 to halt bringing in labourers from Bangladesh.
Ihusan displayed the agreements and letters in parliament and said that although it is being claimed that the previous government had not made any demands from the company, documents have been exchanged then through lawyers on what will be done with the agreement.
- 26 September 2019: A letter was sent to Immigration by Bestinet stating an investment of 13.7 million has been made in relation to the agreement, and asking to proceed as per agreement. Ihusan said that no response had been sent to this letter.
- 11 December 2019: Then Immigration Controller had asked for advice from then Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath, voicing concerns that this issue may lead to legal complications and financial burden on the State. Ihusan said that the AG had not provided advice in this case.
- 23 December 2019: Failing to receive advice from the AG, a letter was sent to then Economic Development Minister Fayyaz Ismail, as the XPat system was under the ministry.
- 29 December 2019: AG Office advised to take a policy level decision through deliberations.
- 10 August 2020: A law firm representing the company sent a letter seeking compensation
- 8 October 2020: AG Office provided advice to Immigration. Ihusan said that the letter stated agreements had been reached with three ministries to use the system
- 1 November 2020: Immigration sent a letter to then President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, seeking advice. No response was given to this letter, Ihusan said.
- 21 March 2022: Bestinet demanded compensation of MVR 13.7 million, matter raised with AG and Economic Minister
- 6 July 2022: A seven day termination letter was sent as the government failed to respond
-25 August 2022: AG Office stated that there is no response as the agreement has been voided
- 9 October 2022: AG stated that the agreement has been cancelled
- 24 March 2023: Bestinet asked for compensation of MVR 13.7 million as the agreement was cancelled
Ihusan said that the AG office then asked for the matter to be sent to the Settlement Committee and to come to an agreement. However, the administration's term came to an end before this was achieved.
He said that use of this system would bring in MVR 1.3 million to the State in work permits. This is higher than with the previous system, he noted, adding that the funds that should have been received from the previous system also remained unreceived.
"We opted for this system because with a good new system we can raise it from MVR 700 million to 1.3 billion. They said the State faces losses of MVR 400 million. I am saying the State will receive profits of 500 million and more," he said.
Ihusan said that he would lodge a case with the Anti Corruption Commission seeking a criminal investigation against previous government leaders as their negligence in resolving the issue caused millions in loss to the State.
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