100 out of 4,000 apartments allocated for Maldives Customs

It has been revealed that out of the 4,000 social housing units developed by Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC), 100 flats have been allocated for the Maldives Customs Service.

Among the 13,000 eligible applicants for the Gedhoruveriya scheme, the highest-scoring applicants will be allocated flats from the 4,000 units developed by Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC).

Applicants with scores of 76 points and above were eligible out of those applying for three-bedroom units, and applicants scoring 73 points and above were eligible out of those applying for two-bedroom units.

In addition, it was revealed that the government has allocated 100 flats out of the total 4,000 units for Customs. Commissioner General of Customs Abdulla Shareef said that a list of 100 employees of the authority was submitted to the Ministry of National Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure (MNPHI) after an internal evaluation, according to the ministry's request.

"We exchanged documents and shared the shortlisted and final list of staff [with the ministry], which is expected to receive a response sometime today," Shareef stated.

The State Minister of MNPHI Akram Kamaluddin also confirmed this, and said that the ministry will provide a formal reply and commence handover of the units to the eligible staff of Customs.

It has also been revealed that the eligible staff of Customs, who applied to the scheme individually, were removed from the ministry's list before it was made public. These applicants will receive their units based on the requirements set by the ministry for the Customs authority.

Although the points were displayed next to the recipients' names on the permanent list, MNPHI announced the opening of a complaints window on Sunday, November 5, which will remain active until Thursday, November 9.

However, the situation escalated, prompting significant public pressure and ultimately leading to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) intervening in the handover process.

The commission has demanded that the ministry provide sufficient time for recipients to lodge complaints and assess them before the flats are handed over. Additionally, the commission's Quick Response Team entered the ministry's premises on Monday to conduct further investigations into the matter.