MDP to file court case over non-bid 206 govt projects

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has decided to file a court case seeking to halt the funding of 206 government projects awarded to private companies without competitive bidding.

The decision was made during the MDP National Assembly meeting held on Saturday. The resolution to take legal action was proposed by former Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Saleem and approved by the assembly.

At a ceremony held last Thursday at Barceló Nasandhura Malé, the government signed 206 agreements with 53 private companies for development projects in nine sectors. The projects, valued at MVR 2.7 billion, are to be implemented under contractor-finance arrangements through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).

Saleem’s resolution stated that the projects were awarded without opening for competitive bidding, in violation of the Finance Act. It also claimed that amendments were made to financial regulations to enable direct awarding and that the projects were not publicly announced beforehand.

The resolution further alleged that the contracts were given to companies affiliated with the ruling Progressive National Congress (PNC).

The MDP said it would pursue legal action to suspend the projects’ financing and, if relevant oversight institutions fail to investigate the matter, seek the removal of the responsible officials.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the projects cover several sectors, including:

The Finance Ministry has stated that payments will be made to contractors only after verification of project progress, in line with PSIP procedures.