Saturday
27th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
President Solih with heads of local media.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) launches investigation into recent information revealed by the President’s Office paying several media houses to promote the Government.
Last year and this year, so far, President’s Office had disbursed MVR 1.4 million (US$ 90,638.62) to several media houses.
A private individual had filed the matter in ACC, addressed to Commission President Adam Shamil. A copy of the letter was made available to TMJ.
The letter had asked the Commission to review the case, as the disbursement of funds had violated financial regulations. The letter went on to add that this transaction was designed to grant undue benefits to an individual or party. ACC had informed that investigation was underway.
Some of the recipients have reported that PO undertook the initiative after obtaining quotations from them.
Clause 10.24 of the Public Finance Regulation states that price quotations must be sought out from at least three contractors. This should be done only when it is deemed that a public announcement for service requisition would not yield results and only if deemed that a price quotation would result in more price competitiveness and more economical.
The Regulation further states that this clause is only applicable in instances where the total price of the contract does not exceed MVR 35,000 (US$ 2,265.97). However, most of the contracts were made at a price of MVR 50,000 (US$ 3237.09), clearly violating this financial regulation.