Artwork of Mount Fuji to Adorn Office for Transitional Justice

Office of Ombudsperson for Transitional Justice (OOTJ) has made an announcement to procure furniture and decorative items for the office. OOTJ is seeking items such as an artwork of Mount Fuji, rubber plants, carpets, and pots.

All the items are notably of the brand IKEA. The list even cited the item codes. It is speculated the list was aimed, and violated finance regulations. According to Act 10.36 (e) of the Public Finance Regulations, bidding documents must not mention a specific brand name, design, trademark, description, manufacturer, or catalog unless absolutely necessary. However, the announcement from the Ombudsperson's Office specified IKEA, and item codes from a catalog.

When determining the requirements of a bid, unless there is no other way to express or provide details, specific brand names, designs, trademarks, types, original manufacturer, or catalog shall not be mentioned. If any of the above is referred to in the determination of requirements, a similar manufacture of the same standard must be accepted. During the evaluation of all submitted bids, any of the aforementioned shall be used as a common standard.

When questioned by Dhiyares, Chief Ombudsperson Abdul Salaam Arif claimed he informed the procurement staff to draft the announcement according to public finance regulations. If the document has any issues, the Ombudsperson advised lodging a complaint.

It is worth noting that the items mentioned in the list are often sold at a higher retail price than those available in the Maldives.