Privatisation of airport to be audited

The Audit Office has announced plans to conduct an audit of how the airport was awarded to GMR.

Auditor General Ibrahim Niyaz told Sun Online today that the Audit Office is preparing to conduct pilot audits on past privatisation projects, which includes the privatisation of the airport.

“Privatisation increases risks for the government. So we want to assess if the privatisation projects were undertaken in a manner which was optimal for the government. This is part of the Auditor General’s responsibility, so we want to introduce this discipline. We are working on training personnel and preparing to conduct pilot audits. One of the most-debated issues at the moment, the privatisation of the airport, will also be audited,” he said.

He said that Attorney General (AG) Aishath Azima Shakoor had requested for an audit of the privatisation of the airport on several occasions.

“The preparations are now well under way,” he said.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is also currently investigating three issues related to the privatisation of the airport.

The AG has requested ACC to expedite these investigations. In an interview with Sun Online last Thursday, she highlighted the importance of ACC’s findings on the GMR issue.

Vice President of the ACC Muawwiz Rasheed said that the ACC has prioritised investigation of the cases related to GMR.

An economic review on the award of the airport to GMR has also been compiled by the government.

The government has said that it is not possible to sustain and continue the agreement made with GMR, while the political parties included in the government coalition have commenced special efforts to reclaim the airport from GMR.