The Parliament of the Maldives has accepted an emergency motion raised with regards to the compliance audits conducted on the COVID-19 expenses at the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Tourism.
The emergency motion was raised by Parliamentarian Ahmed Usham. The motion was accepted to the parliament with votes from 47 parliamentarians.
The emergency motion calls for an independent investigation of the major irregularities found in the audit reports of the two ministries. Speaking on the motion, Parliamentarian Ahmed Usham stated the health ministry has repeatedly misled the public regarding the COVID-19 expenditure. He added the ministry had also provided false information to the parliament when asked about the expenses.
Most of the parliamentarians who spoke on the motion expressed support to conduct an independent investigation on the matter and take action on those responsible for misappropriating state funds. Some parliamentarians called for the relevant ministers or officials to be suspended until the end of the investigation.
The compliance audit of the health ministry revealed significant irregularities in the procurement of ventilators. In this regard, the audit revealed the Dubai-based Executors General Trading was paid 90% of the quoted price in advance to procure 75 ventilators in April, whilst no ventilators have been procured despite four months having passed since signing the contract. The audit also revealed major irregularities in assessing parties and awarding contracts to supply ventilators.
Meanwhile, the audit of the tourism ministry revealed about 99% of the expenditure undertaken by the ministry for COVID-19 preparations was outside of its mandate. As such, the report revealed USD 1.7 million was spent by the tourism ministry outside of its mandate for COVID-19 preparations.