MDP to go to court to stop funding 206 projects

Last night, the MDP National Council passed a motion to go to court in order to halt the funding of the 206 projects that were awarded to 53 Maldivian private companies by the government. The council has done this citing a violation of the Public Finance Act.

The project awarding ceremony held last Wednesday at Barceló Nasandhura saw the signing of 206 projects totaling MVR 2.7 billion.

The projects were awarded under the Single Source procurement strategy without tender, under an amendment that was brought to the Public Finance Act.

MDP's National Council condemned this move, with former Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Saleem submitting a resolution stating that the 200 plus projects were handed to various companies by the government "without any transparency and equality."

The resolution also alleged that such an amount of projects being awarded to companies without a bidding process goes against the Public Finance Act.

As per Saleem, the amendment to award projects without a bidding process was made to the act against the act itself. Saleem's resolution also stated that the projects not being announced beforehand is also in violation of the Public Finance Act.

The resolution reads that no other company outside of government affiliated ones were able to partake in the tender processes.

The resolution called for the government to void all the agreements. The resolution also called upon relevant institutions to look into the issue, stating that if it is not looked into, MDP will dismiss members in such institutions and take action against them the next time an MDP government takes office.

The resolution was passed when a consensus was reached between members who had attended last night's MDP National Council sitting.

During the project agreement signing ceremony, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu assured that the projects were awarded within the rules and regulations established within the Public Finance Act.

During the ceremony, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu stated that the companies that were awarded the 206 projects had submitted a three-year "Audit Financial Statement".

"Along with that, a company that has not abided by the bank's procedures would not have been able to come to this venue to sign the agreement. We have awarded companies who have had a good track record in their professional work," said President Muizzu.