Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has stated that most of the compensation given to Capital Marine and Civil Construction Company (CMC), which was contracted by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's administration to reclaim Ras Malé, will go to the president.
Speaking at a front office gathering of the People’s National Front (PNF), former President Yameen said that he does not accept giving compensation or going for a settlement agreement for every issue. He said that the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives states that if such a matter surfaces, it is to seek justice, and that procedures and processes are in place for that, and courts have been established for the purpose.
Stressing that compensation sought outside of court is for matters of a completely different nature, which may include issues involving many people or families being disgraced and harmed, the ex-president highlighted that however, Muizzu had agreed that the government has done things wrongly in the agreement with “Raju”.
Further, Yameen said that if an agreement that has been compiled incorrectly is to be cancelled, it would be decided after determining if compensation needs to be paid.
Going on to reveal that if it includes something illegal or wrong, the administration had previously bought about 12 lawmakers representing the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) using funds taken from Raju.
The ex-president highlighted that this was done following an attempt to take a no-confidence vote against Muizzu, and that the MDP lawmakers were bribed to prevent that from happening, using funds taken from Raju.
Yameen said that the reason compensation needs to be paid now is because of this, and that otherwise, if the agreement was done incorrectly, there is no reason why the state should not take this case to court.
It recently came to light that Muizzu who earlier asserted that unfairly compensating with public funds should never be done, has decided to pay USD 21 million in compensation to Capital Marine and Civil Construction Company (CMC) using public funds.
The president has also cancelled several settlement agreements made in accordance with the decisions of the Settlement Committee, which was formed by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration to resolve issues arising from the sudden termination of agreements the government had made with some contractors.
According to a report by "Adhadhu" news, CMC had initially planned to go to arbitration to seek compensation for losses incurred when the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) terminated its agreement with CMC. However, the news outlet learned that CMC has agreed not to pursue arbitration after the government signed a settlement agreement for USD 21 million dollars which is approximately MVR 323 million.
The incumbent administration began the work of reclaiming 1,153 hectares of land from Fushidhiggaru lagoon under the name ‘Ras Malé’, despite the 19th People's Majlis advising the government not to proceed with the project using public funds.
Although MVR 400 million was included in the 2024 budget for reclaiming Fushidhiggaru lagoon, the 19th People’s Majlis assembly, with a majority of the now main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), completely removed the project from the budget, stating that there was no way to secure the funds and that it would be better to complete the many ongoing development projects in the islands of the Maldives.
However, the incumbent administration proceeded with the project by assigning it to CMC, disregarding the parliament recommendation. The president has repeatedly stated that development projects in the islands are not progressing due to how the previous People’s Majlis assembly prepared the budget.
At the time, the incumbent administration portrayed to the public that Fushidhiggaru lagoon was being reclaimed without any expenditure from the state.
When the incumbent administration secretly assigned CMC to reclaim 1,153 hectares of land, in addition to giving 10 hectares of land from Hulhumalé, the government had agreed to provide 99-year lease rights for 60 hectares of the reclaimed land in Fushidhiggaru lagoon. Based on estimates at the time, the value of the land released by the government to CMC for the project was expected to be at least MVR 34 billion.
After CMC had completed part of the assigned project and later when the project had significantly slowed down, HDC terminated the agreement in 2024. It is reported that CMC decided to take the matter to arbitration as a result.
