MMTV incurs heavy loss over allegations; NSPA to annul agreement

The National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) on Monday announced it has decided to annul the sublet agreement with Maldives Media House Private Limited that operates ‘MMTV’.

After NSPA was notified to vacate is previous venue, Mookai Suites as it was undergoing renovations, the agency had sublet some floors of the new venue to MMTV after seeking a subtenant via an open tender through the Ministry of Finance.

However, following the agreement between NSPA and MMTV, several baseless allegations had come to light tarnishing the reputation of MMTV which has resulted in significant financial losses to the company.

In light of this, MMTV had requested to annul the sublet agreement with NSPA which was subsequently followed by the parties discussing on the matter, after which the agency announced its decision to annul the agreement.

“As such, we would like to inform that we will be attending to the required formalities in bringing the agreement to an end and fulfil other procedures under the instructions of the Ministry of Finance,” the statement read.

NSPA took four floors on rent from its new venue, for which the agency had paid a lump sum total of MVR 34.8 million for a five-year rental period. After renting the floors, NSPA had sublet two floors out of this to MMTV, which began operations in these floors last Thursday.

However, allegations soon followed that the floors were sublet to MMTV without subjecting it to rent.

The main opposition, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) on Monday submitted an emergency motion to the Parliament expressing concern over the issue. The motion however, was thrown out of the floor by the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) controlled parliament.

NSPA has denied the allegations and subsequently requested the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to look into the matter.

The commission has since begun its investigation into the case, but had not provided any comment on it so far.