Maldive Gas ‘loses’ advance payment for gas shipment

Discussions during a parliamentary committee meeting on Wednesday revealed that state-owned Maldive Gas “lost” money it paid to a foreign company last year as an advance to import a shipment of gas.

The issue was raised by Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim during a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee.

During the meeting, Nazim, the parliamentary representative for Dhiggaru constituency, said the advance payment in question was made in October last year for a shipment of liquified petroleum gas (LPG).

He did not specify the amount paid as an advance, nor did he name the foreign company in question.

Nazim said the Maldive Gas never received the shipment nor was it able to recover the advance payment.

“I have also been informed that Maldive Gas lost money it paid as an advance for a gas shipment. Efforts to recover the money have been unsuccessful,” he said.

The senior parliamentarian from the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) noted that making advance payments without any guarantees is in complete violation of the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB)’s procurement policies.

He said that such violations must be tolerated and that the culprits must be held accountable.

“We need to check if the companies are complying with PCB’s procurement policies. We need to look into such important matters,” he said.

Maldive Gas was not immediately available for comment regarding the case.