Govt contracts Malaysian company for expat accommodation: Fayyaz called for immediate stop

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail has called the government to change its approach of awarding the expat accommodation to a foreign contractor.

Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology has begun efforts to sign a foreign contractor to develop an accommodation facility for expatriate workers. The state announced it will be awarding the project to Malaysia’s Atilze Digital, which is a subsidiary of G3 Global Berhad.

Malaysia news outlets have reported Atilze Digital was contracted by the Maldives government for the National Integrated Migrant Worker Dormitory project.

Maldives government sent a letter of award to the G3 Global Berhad subsidiary last Wednesday, for the development of the dormitory which aims to oversee and manage the accommodation and welfare of all migrant workers in the Maldives.

The project, G3 Global said will be based on a private-public partnership model, with full private finance initiatives and revenue sharing between the Maldives government and the contractor.

“The concession period for the project shall be for an initial period of 30 years from the date of issuance of the land lease, with an automatic extension of an additional period of 30 years,” Maldives government in its letter of award said.

In response, Fayyaz said that it was a significant concern in terms of the mandatory requirement of employers to use the said facilities.

The MDP Chairperson however said, that there was no issue in a foreign party providing such services without the mandatory requirement but added that a private local company or a state-owned enterprise (SOE) can do so as it was already assigned to the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to develop.

“Sadly any future government will not have any other choice but to terminate such a damaging contract and paving way for huge damages,” Fayyaz said in a post on X.

He also called out to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and Minister of Homeland Security Ali Ihusan to clear the details of the said project to the public. Fayyaz further called to immediately suspend the project if it was already ongoing.

Meanwhile, Malaysian news outlet The Edge Malaysia reported that the project will generate revenue through fees charged to employers for each migrant worker at USD 100 per month for the first year, before increasing it to USD 120 per month for each migrant worker; of which USD 5 per worker would be shared with the Maldives.

While the fee is subject to period review, the Maldives government as per the contract, must ensure that it will make sure using these dormitories mandatory for employers through legal and regulatory means.

The final terms and conditions of the project will be determined before the concession agreement is signed, G3 Global said.