The newly appointed Housing Minister, Dr Ali Haidar, announced that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will undertake a thorough review of complaints pertaining to the allocation of flats by the previous government.
During a press conference held at Dharubaaruge, Minister Haider conveyed that authorities would verify whether social housing units, distributed between the first and second rounds of the Presidential Election, were allocated to those most in need. He highlighted the Solih administration's failure to heed the explicit requests of the then-President Elect's Office to halt the allocation of housing units after the election of Dr. Mohamed Muiz as the President of Maldives.
In his inaugural press conference, Minister Haider expressed his reliance on the ACC's recommendations concerning the flat allocation issue.
The housing scheme unveiled by the previous government listed 13,000 eligible applicants on a permanent basis. However, by the end of the regime, only 4,000 of them had been granted flats. Dissatisfied with the process, over 7,000 complaints were received, but a conclusion was reached that there were no significant irregularities warranting a change in the list.
The outgoing administration of President Solih had rebuffed requests from the Anti-Corruption Commission to suspend the publication of a list naming individuals awarded 4,000 social housing units, later announcing a cessation of the work.
Dr. Haider pointed out that the previous government had also granted land registry to individuals without the land even having been reclaimed to date, which he asserted was against the law. He emphasized the need for a closer investigation into this matter.
Referring to the list of those awarded plots of land, he remarked, "We need to seek legal counsel regarding the validity of those decisions." Additionally, he mentioned that the distribution of "drawn plots of land" could result in significant changes to the locations if implemented as planned.
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