Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) revealed on Monday that Greater Male' Industrial Zone Ltd (GMIZL) handed over building chemical storages in Thilafushi to SJ Construction for a higher price than initially estimated.
A letter addressed the parliament's State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Committee by ACC disclosed that the project was contracted over to SJ Construction while another company had proposed to complete the project for a lower cost.
According to the letter, GMIZL estimated the construction cost at MVR 7.7 million. However, SJ Construction's price was MVR 9.5 million.
AJE Corporate Pvt Ltd, who lost the bid to SJ Construction, proposed MVR 4.3 million for the project, although AJE scored fewer points for the duration required to complete the project.
ACC's letter stated that GMIZL awarded the contract to SJ Construction after the commission notified GMIZL to halt the process.
Regarding the incident, GMIZL's Managing Director Ibrahim Rasheed (Ibu) stated the decision was "passed by the board, against the management".
Local media Mihaaru reported that GMIZL's management decided to award the contract to AJE after evaluation since SJ Construction's proposal was more costly, although the latter scored more points in the evaluation.
Media reports state that the decision to hand the contract over to SJ Construction was passed with the majority vote of three board members.
The company, who was tasked with the project in October, has now handed over the completed chemical storages to GMIZL.
The godowns were constructed as one single building in a land area of 100,000 square feet.
GMIZL first decided to award the contract without a bidding process but later issued an announcement for placing bids, pressured by strong public criticism.
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