Guarantee cheque from Heavy Load to Thilafushi bounced

The cheque of Rf 16.1 million issued by Heavy Load, the company in charge of reclamation work of Thilafushi, as project guarantee to Thilafushi Corporation Limited (TCL) has bounced.

Technical Financial Advisor to the Minister of Finance Ali Shareef told Sun Online that the cheque was issued on 12 October 2011, and expired today at 15:00. Shareef said that because the work has not commenced, Heavy Load’s guarantee has to be extended. Heavy Load was given the chance to extend the validity of the cheque until last Sunday, but they did not respond to this request.

“They said they will extend the validity of the cheque, but did not do so until today. We tried to cash the cheque before it expired; but it has bounced,” Shareef said.

He said that they tried to cash the cheque last Monday, but information that the cheque had bounced was received today.

He added that the guarantee must be held until work commences, and Heavy Load must issue a new cheque or deposit equivalent cash to TCL’s account.

“So we are trying to find out what legal action can be taken in this situation. No matter what, the guarantee has to be renewed. They have mentioned that they will do it. But they’ve still not responded,” Shareef said.

TCL said that the cheque was issued from State Bank of India (SBI). The Rf 16.1 million is 5 percent of the $21 million project.

Thilafushi project has been disrupted since the end of last year due to financial problems. Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has ordered to end this project. ACC is investigating several issues related to this project; and there is currently a case related to Thilafushi project in Civil Court as well.