Corruption still not eradicated in SOEs: Nazim

Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP for Dhiggaru Ahmed Nazim has alleged that there is still acts of corruption being committed in State Owned Enterprises (SOEs).

While speaking about the proposed State Budget 2025 in today's parliament sitting, Nazim said that MVR 940 million has been spent on SOEs this year. He said that despite this, no signs are seen of the companies improving or reforming.

Nazim said that it does not appear that acts of corruptions within these SOEs have come to an end, either. He said that similar headlines about corruption that were seen before are still being repeated.

"Government companies have not stopped bleeding, it is a major wound that continues to bleed," he said.

Nazim opined that the Minister of Finance needs to step up with courage and take action to bring such issues to an end.

He said that the Privatization and Corporatization Board that currently oversees SOEs must be dissolved, and the companies taken under the care of the ministry directly. With this, the Minister needs to act to reform SOEs, he said.

Nazim pinpointed the health industry as one sector in which corruption is continuing due to agreements that had been earlier entered into.

As an example, he said that recently, a case had come to light where each person had to spent MVR 24,000 from Aasandha to get an injection.

When the matter was further looked into, it was revealed that over 1000 such injections were purchased through Aasandha, Nazim said. He said that while the government has given the companyu MVR 24 million, the actual price [of the injections] do not even come to MVR 5000.

"With a change in administration, the brands of the machines in hospitals changes. It is because of issues such as this that I am saying there is much that is leaking out through this," he said.

Nazim further said that there is a mediator in agreements made by Aasandha with foreign hospitals. He said that these hospitals charge exorbitant prices that are hard to accept, and said the government must discontinue such agreements if it is found that parties are unduly benefiting from them.