ACC to complete ‘Gedhoruveriya’ scheme probe in 20 days

Housing Minister Dr. Ali Haidar said on Monday that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has informed the government they will finish their investigation into the ‘Gedhoruveriya’ housing scheme within the next 20 days, adding that the Housing Ministry will work to resume work on the scheme once the investigation is done.

In a meeting with the Parliament’s National Development and Heritage Committee on Monday, Haidar said that while the corruption watchdog expects to wrap up their investigation in the next 20 days, the resumption of work on the housing scheme may get further delayed if the possible issues uncovered require a criminal investigation.

“During talks with the ACC, they informed us they will finish stage one investigations in 20 days. But they said that given a criminal investigation, the access to the flats from the [Gedhoruverin] portal, except for that granted to the commission, will need to be temporarily cut off in order to preserve the integrity of evidence,” he said.

Haidar said he would need to clarify how long a criminal investigation would take place.

He said the Housing Ministry has received 7,000 complaints to the list of recipients of flats under the ‘Gedhoruveriya’ scheme.

Haidar said that the chief concern of the current administration stemmed from the fact that the former administration had carried out work on the scheme despite instructions by the ACC to halt the process, and the request by the then President-elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu to pause the work during the transitional period.

Haidar said the ACC asked the Housing Ministry to give them full access to the Gedhoruverin portal, and all applications and paperwork related to the scheme.

The commission also asked that no one is authorized to amend the information on the portal.

Haidar told the committee that it wasn’t the new administration that stopped the scheme, but the project had already been suspended at ACC’s instructions when the new administration assumed office.

“Given that this work was halted at the instructions of the Anti-Corruption Commission, we met with commission to seek a way to resume this work,” he said.

The permanent list of recipients of flats under the ‘Gedhoruveriya’ scheme was originally released on November 4.

At the time, the Housing Ministry said the recipients of the 4,000 units currently under construction by the Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC) on list of recipients for three-bedroom flats had all received upwards of 76 marks.

Meanwhile, the recipients of the 4,000 units on the list of two-bedroom flats had all received upwards of 73 marks.

The next day, dozens of protesters gathered at the Housing Ministry to express their displeasure.

They allege the assessment process had been unfair, that some applicants who had resided in Male’ for a fewer period of time had scored higher points, and that some lawmakers from the MDP and their family members were unfairly awarded flats.

The same day, the ACC instructed a halt to the issuance of the flats as it investigates the complaints.