Ministry of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (MNPHI) has stated today that the 4000 Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC) flats were awarded fairly to the most deserving recipients. They noted that efforts to portray the awarding in a questionable light are politically motivated.
The Ministry's Senior Executive Director Mohamed Arif dismissed claims that the flats were awarded to specific individuals through political influence, stating that such claims had no basis in reality.
He reaffirmed that flats awarded in the first housing project in the Male' Area by this government have been done fairly and justly.
"No one who owns upwards of 600 square feet of land in the Male' area is included in the list of flat recipients. No one who previously got a Hiyaa flat has been considered eligible either," Arif stated.
Arif said that while most of the complaints were concerning the durations lived in Male', that could not be accepted as a valid complaint. He said that a complaint would be considered valid if it concerned how the points were awarded to the person.
Responding to queries whether any flats were unfairly allocated, Arif reassured that anyone who received 77 points in relation to their standard of living has not been denied a flat. However, he said that points were allocated in relation to the information that applicants have provided on their forms.
"Our aim is to complete this without anyone's rights being infringed upon," Arif said.
State Minister Akram Kamaluddeen said that all complaints received within the complaint window will be reviewed, and if there are any instances where a person was wrongfully awarded a flat, even if by mistake, the matter would be duly addressed and rectified.
"If there is anyone that needs to be disqualified, we will do that. We will take into consideration the information submitted by different complainants. We will consider options to award flats to deserving applicants who have not received flats yet," Akram said.
According to the housing scheme, verification of the living standard of applicants are done through random sampling. The Ministry revealed that 3000 homes were visited on random selection out of the 20,000 applicants.
Arif said that no cases of provision of false information has risen yet. He said that applicants are required to sign a declaration that all information provided is true and accurate.
"If any instances of providing false information come to light, we will take due action against that and disqualify that application," Akram stated.
Akram went on to say that he believed the efforts to portray the awarding of flats as an unjust process, with allegations of undeserving people having been awarded flats through undue influence, were rooted in political intentions and orchestrated by politicians with a differing stance to the incumbent government. He claimed that neither the public nor institutions like the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) seemed to be concerned about this matter.
"It's not that the public sentiments are boiling over. A certain group of people led the protest and came here and shouted. It was a specific group who shouted here, and the same can be said about reactions on social media. This is basically similar to the India Out campaign. Certain people are orchestrating this to defame the government and try to portray this scheme as unfair," Akram alleged.
Asserting that there will be no negligence or wrongdoing in the matter, Akram confirmed that all relevant information and documents have been provided to the ACC.
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