Several MPs on Wednesday levelled serious allegations against the Fenaka Corporation, accusing the utility company of failing to pay large sums of money owed to private parties and small companies.
The harshest criticism during the debate at today’s sitting of parliament on a resolution proposed by Maduvvari MP Adam Shareef calling on Fenaka to settle outstanding payments to small businesses came from Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb.
Ilyas, who belongs to The Democrats, said Fenaka carries out projects in a manner that causes losses to the state and paves the way for corruption.
“ACC [Anti-Corruption Commission] needs to look into this problem. The Auditor General needs to look into this problem,” Ilyas said.
He accused Fenaka of frequently changing its procurement policies without a sound process.
It has been years since state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were instructed to follow a procurement policy jointly formulated by the Finance Ministry and the World Bank, said Ilyas, who was formerly the chair of parliament’s SOE oversight committee. But Fenaka has not been following the policy, he said.
“We haven’t been informed that Fenaka has been implementing it. And we weren’t able to clear it up when we tried,” Ilyas said.
Disagreements have also arisen between Fenaka and the State Trading Organization (STO) about unpaid bills owed to the latter, he said.
“Used as a tool to win the election”
Maduvvari MP Adam Shareef, who submitted the resolution calling on Fenaka to make payments to private companies, accused the government of using Fenaka as a political tool to win the election.
Shareef responded to Hulhumale’ MP Ali Niyaz’s claim that islands benefitted from many jobs created by Fenaka.
“If you are to create jobs, the company doing it should consider the improvements to services and whether there are benefits from that person [who gets employed],” he said.
Fenaka did not take such considerations into account in hiring people, he said.
Despite the floor debate starting today, the resolution was submitted in April.
During the debate, pro-government MPs from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) defended Fenaka and the corporation's managing director Ahmed Saeed. But most ruling party lawmakers conceded that Fenaka should settle its dues to small businesses.
The introduction of a minimum wage increased Fenaka's payroll expenses from MVR 35 million to MVR 50 million, said Hulhumale’ MP Ali Niyaz. As many people do not regularly pay utility bills, Fenaka only earns about 60 percent of billed amounts, he said.
Hithadhoo Uthuru MP Mohamed Aslam, the MDP's parliamentary group leader, said Fenaka has increased the value of its property and assets over the past five years, laying 17,000 km of cables and installing 313 new generator sets on islands across the country.
"Fenaka has been expanded to the extent of generating more than 150 megawatts of electricity. New powerhouses were built on 77 islands and work is ongoing even now on 20 islands," Aslam said.
