Parliament dismisses motion on Fenaka payment delays
Due to the prolonged delay in payments, small businesses and companies are facing financial problems.
By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
Parliament on Tuesday rejected an emergency motion submitted by the opposition coalition over the issue of Fenaka Corporation not paying dues to private companies.
On Monday, a group of people staged a protest outside Fenaka headquarters in capital Male with banners and placards, expressing dissatisfaction over non-payment of dues for goods and services provided to the state-owned utility company.
Fenaka, however, denied their allegations.
During Tuesday’s vote on the emergency motion moved by Maduvvari MP Adam Shareef, the PNC's parliamentary group leader, 15 MPs voted in favour of the motion, while 18 voted to dismiss it.
The case was dismissed by a margin of just three votes and only a handful of opposition members were present on the floor at the time of the vote. Opposition MPs who were not present in the parliament at the time are:
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Faresmathoda MP Hussain Mohammad Latheef
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Naifaru MP Ahmed Shiyam
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Th. Guraidhoo MP Ghassan Maumoon
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Felidhoo MP Fazal Rasheed
The emergency motion said:
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Small businesses and companies in Male and islands have been owed more than USD 2.8 billion in pending payments by Fenaka
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Due to the prolonged delay in payments, small businesses and companies are facing financial problems and some businesses have come to a standstill and have reached a point of bankruptcy
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Small businesses, companies and the general public have lost faith in Fenaka
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Even though Fenaka has reached the point of bankruptcy, it has been trying to influence politics and elections without taking that into account; it has also been reported to the ACC that there are many corruption cases in the running of the company and business dealings
Highlighting these issues, Adam Shareef called:
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To ensure that Fenaka provides funds to small businesses and companies without delay
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To conduct a management and financial audit of Fenaka to identify the reasons for the mounting debt and those responsible for it
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To prepare a plan on how to pay off debts and do all that is necessary to prevent the company from going bankrupt
