Noomadi Resorts and Residences had to be paid US$55 million (MVR 848 million) in compensation for the unfair termination of agreements across the Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik and Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom administrations due to President Mohamed Muizzu’s actions, Chairperson of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Fayyaz Ismail has said.
As fair compensation, for agreements which had been unfairly cancelled by previous administrations, was a presidential pledge of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, his MDP-led administration paid out MVR 2.4 billion in compensation to various parties.
The largest compensation was for the cancellation of contracts with Noomadi, which was entrusted with housing and water and sewerage projects. The company went to arbitration seeking US$155 million in compensation as a result of the canceled agreements.
The main reason for the failure was that the then Housing Minister Muizzu testified against the state and in favour of Noomadi during the arbitration, Ismail said.
“It was a big slap in the face to the people of the Maldives by the current President… I’m sure some of the MVR 900 million must have gone [to questionable sources]. I’m sure of it,” Ismail said.
The compensation was agreed to be paid because it was believed that the loss to the state would be greater if the case was decided by arbitration and a large amount had to be paid as a result.
In addition to the Noomadi contract, US$18 million was paid out for the cancellation of the Nexbiz contract and US$20 million for the cancellation of the Fushidhiggarufalhu contract, Ismail said.
The Noomadi case was also investigated by Parliament due to the large payout, and charges were brought against Muizzu but were eventually dismissed as no wrongdoing was established.
