Arbitration in ventilator graft case in Maldives: Government

Arbitration proceedings against Dubai-based Executors Trading Company, which was paid by the health ministry to procure ventilators to prepare for the Covid-19 pandemic but failed to deliver the ventilators, will take place in the Maldives, the government said on Thursday.

Government signed an agreement with Executors in April 2020 to supply 75 ventilators during the health emergency declared in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company was paid MVR 30 million, which is 90% of the contract, without obtaining a guarantee, and on the company's request. Since then:

In the case of ventilators, it had to go to arbitration as the Executors company did not respond to repeated requests to pay. Though the process of filing the case for arbitration began earlier this year, it has not yet been referred to arbitration.

In response to a reporter's question on the reasons for the delay in filing the arbitration, President's Office spokesman Miuvan Mohamed said at the press conference held on Thursday that the delay in filing the case was due to the fact that an international tender was looking for lawyers to represent in the arbitration.

"I must have said earlier that the process of selecting the legal team and the selection of lawyers is in progress. We are in an international tender. It's always going to take a little longer, okay. However, the process is going on," he said.

At the press conference, Miuvan said the case would be filed in Dubai arbitration. However, in a message shared with the media later, he said otherwise, saying he had been mistaken. On the reason for seeking foreign lawyers for the case, Miuvan said that the state is looking for a Dubai law firm because it is a Dubai company.

Usually, such cases are filed abroad. However, Miuvan told Atoll Times that the case was being handled in the Maldives as per the agreement.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has repeatedly asked former health minister Abdulla Ameen and members of the bid committee to be prosecuted for negligence in disbursing funds to the executors. However, due to lack of evidence, the Prosecutor General's Office did not file a charge sheet and sent the case back. 

ACC filed the case in August after the PG office failed to file a chargesheet in the case. Ever since ACC filed the case, PG Shameem told the parliament's judiciary committee that a case could still be filed by "amending".

"We will soon see a light in this regard, if we wish," Shameem told the committee the same day, worried that the case would be lost if the case goes ahead without amendments.

Maldives International Arbitration, which was formed in 2020 to facilitate out-of-court settlements, has opened its doors for filing cases. So far, there is no information that the Centre has looked into any arbitration proceedings.