IFC was negligent in GMR issue: Government

Attorney General Aishath Azima Shakoor has said that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) was negligent in its evaluation of the bid which allowed Ibrahim International Airport (INIA) to be awarded to GMR.

Azima said at a press conference held this afternoon that the financial, legal and expert advice provided by IFC to the government on the airport being awarded to GMR, was not sufficient.

She noted that IFC had been greatly negligent in the loss-benefit assessments conducted to understand the effects on the Maldivian economy by awarding the airport to a foreign group for 25 years.

She said that IFC had provided advice to the government without conducting the necessary calculations, and that this Agreement based on IFC’s advice does not accord the government fair authority

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She said that the limited authority the Agreement gives the government does not allow it to make changes to the Agreement, which has resulted in the government having to face serious challenges and losses.

Transport Minister Ahmed Shamheed said that discrepancies were found between the master plan conducted by the government through Scott Wilson and GMR’s master plan proposed by IFC.

“Scott Wilson master plan was made up of several phases. Phase one alone would result in better infrastructure at lower prices being provided to the government and people. If I remember correctly, phase one required $390 million, while all the phases together required $600 million. IFC had not shared this information with the government. The master plan is expensive because it is a huge development of 30 years,” he said.

Shamheed also said that the condition of the airport runway was not assessed before the Agreement was signed, and GMR has claimed that the Agreement does not include the renovation of a runway.

“The subgrade of the runway has failed completely. It is worse than we anticipated. IFC has handled this very irresponsibly. In the end, after renovation of the runway, GMR will send the bill to the government,” he said.