The Parliament Public Accounts Committee has mandated the Auditor General’s Office (AGO) to incorporate four additional audits into its work plan for the forthcoming year. These special audits include the Malé City Council, Urbanco, the Football Association of Maldives (FAM), and the Velana International Airport (VIA) expansion project. This decision was reached during the Public Accounts Committee meeting held on Tuesday.
The inclusion of FAM in the list of special audits was proposed during the committee meeting by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hulhudhoo, Ilyas Labeeb. The initial list included a special audit of FENAKA Corporation, but the committee members decided to substitute it with FAM. Furthermore, the committee members passed a resolution to reserve four slots from the AGO’s annual work plan, enabling the committee to suggest special audits.
While the AGO has been tasked with conducting a financial audit of FAM, the Maldives Police Service (MPS) is concurrently investigating allegations of financial malfeasance within the association. FAM President Bassam Adeel Jaleel, currently under investigation for corruption, money laundering, and misappropriation of funds, has been prohibited from leaving the country. The Prosecutor General’s Office has corroborated clear evidence of malfeasance based on FAM’s bank statements.
The committee has requested that the AGO conduct the audits under the authority vested in it by the constitution. With the addition of these four special audits, the total number of special audits scheduled to be carried out by the AGO in 2024 has increased to nine.
In addition to the special audits, the AGO informed parliament earlier of its plans to execute a comprehensive programme of 346 audits in the forthcoming year. This includes 294 financial compliance audits, 39 audit reviews, four performance audits, and four information systems audits.
Other special audits will encompass the Floating City Project, a joint venture of the Dutch Docklands and the Maldivian government, which has experienced delays, project plan changes, and deadline extensions with no significant work undertaken.
Special audits are also planned for the State Trading Organisation (STO), Fuel Supply Maldives (FSM), SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC), Maldives State Shipping Company (MSSC), and Regional Airports Company (RAC).
While the AGO proposed a budget of MVR123 million for 2024, parliament approved a budget of MVR112.2 million. The AGO is currently under the leadership of Auditor General Hussain Niyazy, whom former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih appointed in July 2021.