Committee to question ex-housing minister, reg. Noomadi case

Former Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has been summoned by the parliament's public accounts' committee, in connection to the Noomadi agreement between the state and the company which was terminated due to alleged contractual violations.

Muizzu is being summoned by the committee in regard to a statement he gave to the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The committee will question him next Monday.

Dr. Mohamed Muizzu was the former Minister of Housing and Infrastructure when the Noomadi agreement was terminated during President Yaameen's regime; the agreement was signed on 20th January 2011 during former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, a“Phase II” agreement was signed on 30th January 2013.

While the agreement was terminated, Noomadi had filed two arbitration cases at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, seeking USD 155 million in compensation.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration has formed a "settlement committee," which advised to resolve the dispute with Noomadi Resorts and Residences, out of court. The Maldivian government agreed to pay USD 55 million to Noomadi Resorts and Residences, as a “full and final settlement.”

Senior officials from President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration and members of the Public Accounts Committee agree that the issue would have been more cost-efficiently handled out of court and that the company demanded a cash settlement as a result of the mistakes made by the previous administration.

They claim that the former minister had, in his statement during the arbitration process, testified against the government by saying that the agreement was terminated unlawfully.

Likewise, many government officials have voiced their concern over the complete freedom afforded to former officials of the previous administration despite evidently still working against the government's best interest.