The Housing and Urban Development Minister Dr. Ali Haidar said the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) would be granted full access to the landlord portal (Gedhoruveriya) within a week.
This move aims to facilitate the ongoing investigation of issues related to the list of 4,000 flat recipients announced by the outgoing government, led by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
The minister also informed the Parliamentary Petitions Committee that the issue regarding the list of flats announced by the previous administration was on hold at the ministry while ACC was conducting the investigation.
Minister Haidar said that the list would be handled based on the commission’s advise, and added that the decision on whether the list should be re-evaluated or not depended on ACC’s guidance.
The minister also promised that the list issued under the government’s housing scheme would not be cancelled, but to safeguard the rights of the initial 4,000 flat recipients, the flats would be allocated to their rightful recipients.
Allegations mounted regarding the initial 4,000 recipients by the applicants of the scheme, citing ineligibility of the list and points being awarded against regulations. ACC stepped in and ordered the ministry to cease allocation of the flats.
The ministry has also been directed not to proceed with any efforts to allot flats until ACC completes its investigation.
During Monday’s committee meeting, ACC said the investigation into case was facing delays due to lack of access into the “Gedhoruveriya” portal, which was created by the previous government for housing schemes.
Minister Haidar said that the process of granting access to the commission was underway.
“They [ACC] sent a letter with certain conditions for access. It’s to ensure that we don’t have access so that they can perform specific tasks. The portal was developed by a group of developers. As changes need to be made to the portal, it takes a few days to implement those adjustments,” Haidar said.
“I think the work will be completed within a week. When the work is completed, they will have full access.”
ACC has noted the following issues with the flat list;
- Conditions of eligibility met for individuals with documentations stating that they are employed and reside in islands (outside of Male’ City)
- Points awarded incorrectly to individuals with no children
According to the policy to allocate flats under the scheme, the eligibility criteria for applicants state that the applicant or the main applicant must have been living in Male’ City for 15 years without interruption.