Addu Mayor: Most transactions flagged in audit didn’t involve anything unlawful

Addu City Mayor Ali Nizar says that many of the transactions flagged for financial irregularities in a recent audit of the Addu City Council did not involve any unlawful or illicit dealings.

A report released by the Auditor General’s Office on the Addu City Council’s finances between 2022 and 2024 flagged major financial irregularities, including MVR 1.2 million spent on trips to Singapore and Malaysia, which auditors found were spent in violation of directives issued by government ministries to reduce expenses.

Nizar told Sun on Thursday that the two trips to Singapore and Malaysia, made in 2023 and 2024, were the only trips the Addu City Council made during the last term to gain experience and training.

“The trips were made in collaboration with Singaporean authorities. It was mostly highlighted [in the report] that the trips didn’t focus much on urban development and such matters. But the people we met and the trainings we received were all agreed to during prior discussions with them,” he said.

The audit report also flagged decisions by the Addu City Council to add plots without a public announcement to land issued for tourism purposes, and change the head lease for eight plots.

Nizar said that the additional land was awarded upon request as per standard protocol.

He does not believe there’s any issue with the decisions.

“Therefore, this wasn’t something that the mayor or any individual councilor did, but it was awarded with the endorsement of the whole council. The council made the decision after the tourism committee discussed it and proposed it to the council,” he said.

The audit report also states that the Addu City Council failed to deposit MVR 492,533 in state revenue to the public account at the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) as of the end of 2024, including MVR 274,200 collected in fees for national identity card services.

When asked about this, Nizar said that expenses for ID card services in Addu are covered by the Addu City Council.

“We, our staff, make the ID cards and do all the work and do all the spending. Under what policy are we required to send the fees to someone else?” he asked.

The audit report also flags the procurement of a pickup for the Hithadhoo district office for MVR 345,000. Auditors found the council failed to inspect the truck before taking it. An inspection conducted later uncovered multiple issues with the vehicle, and it was deemed unsuitable for municipal works.

The report also highlights the failure of the Addu City Council to recover MVR 1.8 million paid by it as advances for two contracts to develop fish plants, that were later terminated.

Auditors found the financial irregularities were resulting in losses to the state, with the Auditor General recommending that the Addu City Council rectify it, especially in matters pertaining to procurement and recovery of dues owed to the state.

Nizar does not believe most of the transactions flagged in the report involved anything unlawful.

“We do not find that most of the things highlighted in it were carried out to do anything unlawful, or unlawful or illicit,” he said.