The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) revealed today that 60 percent of applicants deemed eligible for 'Gedhoruveriya' flats by the previous government's Housing Ministry did not meet the eligibility criteria.
At a press briefing on the issue, ACC said the percentage of application forms from the final list of recipients that had been found to be eligible without any problems was 20.7 percent. The percentage of forms that met the criteria but contained problems was 19.7 percent.
Most of the forms that met the criteria but contained problems included conflicting information. That was 70 percent of the total forms. There were also forms with problems in the awarding of points and forms with points awarded against the evaluation rules for the category of disabled applicants.
Main findings of the ACC inquiry
- Many ineligible applicants included among recipients of the 4,000 flats
- Awarding of additional points during the evaluation process
- Conflicting information in forms submitted by most people
- Inconsistent procedures in determining eligibility and awarding points
- Possibility for the deprivation of the rights of many people
The majority of cases where ineligible applicants were wrongly approved concerned the submission of documents to prove Male' residency as required by section 3(c) of the rules. In cases where a single document either from the residence or council offices had been submitted, applicants were deemed eligible based on the legal weight accorded to the documents.
Offering an example of such a case, an ACC official said information from the Pension Office proved that an applicant who submitted documents claiming to reside in Male' had worked for many years at an island council. However, the applicant was deemed eligible under the criteria for Male' residency and included among the flat recipients.
In similar forms, documents claiming employment at a company before its registration had been deemed valid in order to determine eligibility. In cases where the main applicant had been placed on the Male' special municipal registry or a household registry after 2013, applicants were deemed eligible without confirming their residency in Male' for 15 years.
Recipients of flats under previous government housing schemes and applicants who earn a monthly income above MVR 60,000 had also been deemed eligible.
Problems with scoring applications noted by ACC included points awarded for being a caretaker of a disabled person despite the applicant not claiming to be one and the lack of clarity on the basis for awarding points under the disabled category in some forms.
Noting problems with the complaints process, ACC said it found forms for which baseless complaints and supplementary documents had been accepted. Points had also been awarded without using information that could have been easily verified, ACC said. The ACC investigation also found that some childless applicants had been awarded points for having children.
