HDC Awards Bid To Company Owned By HDC Board Member Jalal

A company co-owned by Housing Development Corporation (HDC) board-member Mohamed Jalal has been contracted with developing a clinic at the Hiyaa Flats.

The Hiyaa Flats were developed by the Yameen administration as a public housing scheme in the Hulhumalé Phase 2 area.

An announcement issued by the HDC on 12 December 2021 read that Pro Synergy Medical Systems Pvt Ltd had been awarded the lease to establish a clinic at Hiyaa Commercial.

Members of the business community told The Maldives Journal that the HDC’s decision to award a lease to a company co-owned by one of its own board members was an act of corruption.

“This is categorically corruption”, said one of them. “Jalal is in a position from which he can exert his influence on the people involved in the procurement process. He’s also a high-ranking figure in the [ruling Maldivian Democratic Party]. How can we believe that he got the work fairly? The sad thing is that there isn’t an institution to complain about this to.”

Although the HDC has been accused of corruption for awarding the lease to Jalal’s company, new members have not yet been appointed to the Anti-Corruption Commission. At the time being, the Commission remains in a legal vacuum and cannot accept new cases for investigation.

Jalal is the MDP’s president for the Komandoo constituency. He also runs another company called Naadu Pvt Ltd. The Ministry of Health has also illegally awarded bids worth several million Rufiyaa to the company.