STELCO has taken charge of the Kulhudhuffushi power station for the second time and has officially begun offering electricity services.
STELCO Managing Director Ali Azwar raised the national flag at the Kulhudhuffushi power station during the ceremony for STELCO to begin offering their services on the island. STELCO's flag was raised by Deputy Managing Director Aishath Muzna.
During the ceremony, Azwar said President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's decision to bring Fenaka's operations under STELCO was a strong decision to bring Maldives' utility services to greater heights, and he thanked the President as well.
The Kulhudhuffushi power station was operated by STELCO from 2003 to 2009. The Northern Utilities Limited operated the power station from 2009 until 2012. Fenaka was established afterward where regional utility companies were combined, with the company being in charge of the power station since.
STELCO's media official Ahmed Mohamed said that while they have officially taken responsibility for Kulhudhuffushi power station's services today, the company has also onboarded power stations in many northern atolls.
The northern power stations the company has not taken on are in Noonu Atoll and Raa Atoll. The company is currently working to bring the power stations in Shaviyani Atoll under their purview.
"STELCO's aim is to bring all power stations Fenaka was in charge of under the company by the end of the month," said Azwar.
The decision to dissolve Fenaka Corporation, which was being managed with a large amount of debt and loss, and transfer their services to STELCO was announced by the government on 7th September.
While the decision to dissolve Fenaka was made, the Anti-Corruption Corporation (ACC) is currently investigating 161 cases. After the investigations, the ACC told Fenaka to recover MVR 21.4 million that was lost.
Fenaka's audit report included corruption cases that occurred regarding the acquisition of goods and services by the corporation during former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's government, with one of the cases seeing a prison sentence for then-Managing Director Ahmed Saeed.
The company currently has more than 8,000 staff.
As there is a high number of employees in the company, Fenaka stated that they are experiencing major administrative and operational difficulties and that it is difficult for them to acquire the necessary funds for generators, essential spare parts, fuel and other materials after paying the salaries of all those employees.
