MDP files case at ACC over awarding of 206 projects, alleging procurement law violations

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has filed a case with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), alleging that the government’s decision last week to award 206 projects worth a total of MVR 2.7 billion to 53 companies under a Contractor Finance mechanism violated the Public Finance Regulations.

The contracts for various projects were signed in a ceremony at Barcelo Nasandhura, following a recent amendment to the Public Finance Regulations that permits Single Source Procurement. This allows the government to assign projects without a public bid under a contractor finance model.

In response, the MDP's National Council passed a resolution calling for the matter to be referred to the ACC and for seeking a temporary court order to prevent banks from disbursing funds for these projects. The MDP subsequently filed a case with the ACC as per the resolution.

The resolution, submitted to the MDP National Council by former Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Saleem, alleged that the government awarded over 200 projects to various companies "without any transparency or fairness."

Saleem further accused the government of violating the Public Finance Act by awarding such a large number of projects to multiple companies without opening them up to competitive bidding.

According to Saleem, the amendment to the Public Finance Regulations that allowed these non-bid contracts itself violates the Public Finance Act. The resolution also argued that since these projects were not previously announced, the transaction itself is illegal.

Saleem alleged in the resolution that the bidding process excluded all parties except companies affiliated with the government.

The resolution demanded that the government immediately nullify the agreements. Furthermore, while calling on relevant authorities to investigate the matter, the resolution warned that if these institutions fail to investigate, an MDP government would dismiss their members and take action. The resolution was unanimously passed by the members present at the MDP National Council session last night.