Mayor of Addu City denies corruption charge

Mayor of Addu City, Abdulla Sodiq (Soabe) and former Deputy Mayor of Addu City, Hassan Shahid have both denied the corruption charge against them by the State.

Both Soabe and Shahid denied the charge when it was read to them by State during the hearing held at Hithadhoo Magistrate Court this Monday afternoon.

Soabe spoke to “Sun” after the hearing and said he had been given 14 days to hire legal representation.

Soabe and Shahid are accused of corruption in connection with the contract to a company design and art work for the Equatorial Convention Center built in Addu City to hold the 17ths

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit.

In a statement released this Monday, Anti-Corruption Commission reported all design and artwork which Addu City Council needed to complete from August to October of 2011 was contracted to a private company for a monthly fee of MVR 15,000.

ACC said that concrete refill work on the convention center was contracted to the company without an open tendering process, and that documents showed the contract was signed by Mayor Soabe.

The commission said the company was contracted for 84 refill artwork and 20 seals, but had only done 64 refill artwork and billed the council MVR 336,000 for it. And that council issued the money to the company on two occasions.

It said though the payment was made after inspection, the inspection was made three months after the SAARC Summit ended, which leaves authorities unable to verify whether the work was completed within the contracted period of time.

ACC said it found in the course of its investigation that the contract with the company was made upon instruction of Mayor Soabe.