State yet to make USD 15 million Nexbis payment
Nexbis is yet to receive the payout it won from the Maldivian government
The contract was signed in 2010
Malaysian security system operator Nexbis is yet to receive the payout it won from the Maldivian government for abrupt termination of a border control contract.
A credible source confirmed this to RaajjeMV.
An arbitration court ruled that the state pay USD 15 million to Nexbis in damages on December 2016 for discarding the 2010 agreement with Nexbis, where the company would install and operate a border control system in the Maldives.
Nexbis originally sought USD 269 million in damages after the contract was terminated in 2013. While the arbitration found the contract's termination to be unlawful, authorities that had terminated it did so under advisement from the parliament and the Anti-Corruption Commission.
The commission had stated that the contract given to Nexbis was ‘conducive to corruption’ and could cause financial losses in the future, which prompted parliamentarians to pursue its termination as well.
Furthermore, Nexbis had proposed to charge fee from travelers that pass through or arrive in the Maldives, which it claimed would exempt the government from payment as the company would generate funds through these means. Its plans to impose this fee on locals were waived as a gesture of good-will.
The Nexbis’ termination coincides almost with the government’s termination of the airport operation contract given to India’s GMR Group, which also resulted in the state having to pay damages and Maldives last year was forced to buy a bond of USD 140 million to pay it.
