ACC: Almost 60 percent of flat recipients ineligible

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) states 59.6 percent of the people who were listed as recipients of flats under the former administration’s ‘Gedhoruveriya’ scheme are ineligible to receive flats under the scheme.

In a press briefing on Monday, ACC said point allocation had not been carried out fairly when evaluating the applicants who applied for the 4,000 flats. In this regard, some applicants were unfairly allocated additional points, while some applicants had provided contradictory information on their applications.

Therewith, ACC, following their investigations, concluded a high possibility of the infringement of the rights of many people.

The commission’s investigative team said that applications that met the criteria and did not have any further issues totaled at 20.7 percent while applications that met the criteria but lacked all required information totaled at 19.7 percent.

They had reviewed 4,048 applications as part of their investigation.

ACC noted that some applicants had submitted false documents to establish they had been residing at Male’ for 15 years straight. Moreover, some applicants had been deemed eligible to receive flats without verifying the information provided through the portal as per the commission.

An official on the investigative team detailed that letters claiming the applicant had been working with the company before the date of the company’s inception were submitted by applicants to establish they had been employed in Male’.

Issues noted in the allocation of points included the award of points reserved for individuals who are responsible for the care of a person with disabilities for applicants who have not stated they carry such a responsibility.

The publication of the list of the recipients of 4,000 flats developed by Fahi Dhiri Ulhun Corporation (FDC) in Hulhumale’ triggered protests from the public over the point allocation. A total of 325 complaints were submitted to ACC over the list.

ACC had previously ordered the suspension of the issuance of flats under the ‘Gedhoruveriya’ scheme, following complaints of irregularities. The prolonged investigation sparked protests from recipients of the flats.

The commission lifted the suspension on Thursday, instructing the Housing Ministry to abide by certain rules while issuing the flats.