The State Electric Company (STELCO) is has accumulated a debt of 1.6 billion and has been making a loss of millions for years, its CEO Ahmed Zuhoor has said.

Zuhoor told parliamentarians at the committee for government oversight that STELCO had made a loss of 100 million each year since 2014.

He further said that STELCO is in debt for sums over 1.6 billion, while their total assets are amount to roughly 2 billion.

The bulk of STELCO’s spending goes to oil procurement, as the company’s engine-houses produce enough electricity to supply the entire atoll and islands near it.

“70 percent of our revenue goes to buying oil to produce power, 15 percent goes to maintenance, 10 goes to employee salaries, and the remaining five goes to operational costs and STELCO has nothing left” Zuhoor said.

According to Zuhoor, STELCO supplies 35 more islands around Malé and the lack of consumers in these less populous regions prove costly to operate on.

Zuhoor told the parliamentary committee that STELCO would turn over a profit if the company only supplied power to the capital city and operated in Malé.