Discussions begin on filing charges in Gedhoruveriyaa Scheme case
The government has also established two committees to look into the flat list issue
Public protesting inside ACC office in the flat issue
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has stated that consultations have begun regarding filing charges against those involved in the Gedhoruveriyaa Scheme initiated by the former administration.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the anti-corruption watchdog said that they have officially begun duty prosecution with the Prosecutor General's (PG) Office to decide on filing charges against those involved in the case of flat allocation under the Gedhoruveriyaa Scheme, which the commission has been investigating.
The ACC statement also said that the commission will work as quickly as possible to complete the duty prosecution phase of the case involving significant public interest and carry out the necessary work to request charges to be filed against those who can be prosecuted.
Under the scheme, 4,000 flat recipients were gazetted, and the former administration had even made agreements with 3,778 of them. However, ACC on 5 February 2024 announced that a large percentage of the flat list compiled by the former administration did not meet the criteria. On the other hand, while ACC has advised the housing ministry to proceed with allocating flats to those without issues, the housing ministry has failed to follow through so far.
The government has also established two committees to look into the flat list issue. However, while the government has not disclosed any details of these committees' work, according to reports circulating on social media, the government is now working on "allocating" the flats to people favored by government-affiliated lawmakers and government officials.
Following uncertainty about what the incumbent will do with the flats allocated by the previous government and when the flats will be distributed, a throng of citizens have been holding a series of protests calling for the resignation of then-housing minister Dr. Ali Haidar who has since been allocated to another ministry.
While the Muizzu administration has recently begun efforts to criminalize those involved in the flat work from the previous government, during his presidential campaign Muizzu had promised that he would hand over the flats and land given by the former administration to the recipients without any changes during his presidency.
