Civil suit seeks halt to Gedhoruveriyaa flat re-allocation

An interim court order has been sought from the Civil Court to stop the current government from denying flats to recipients of the previous administration's Gedhoruveriyaa housing scheme. 

The former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government had allocated 4,000 flats based on established criteria, but the current government is withholding them, citing that the recipients do not meet the necessary eligibility requirements.

Speaking to reporters in front of the Justice Building after filing the case, lawyer Mohamed Nishan Ibrahim said the court administration has accepted the case.

He said the petitioner had received information that the flats previously given to different people were being given to others.

The lawsuit was filed amid concerns that the list of beneficiaries remained unpublished. There were allegations that some names were being withheld and apartments were being allocated to others, leaving potential recipients in a state of apprehension and confusion.

However, the lawyer did not share any further details of the case.

Speaking to reporters, Male' City Council Member Mohamed Saif Fathih said the council has done a lot of work on the issue of flats.

"We are not able to get an appropriate response from the government. Even the public doesn't know who got, who didn't, who was removed or added to the list. The people are in a confused, muddled state”, Council member for the Galolhu North Constituency, Mohamed Saif Fatih said.

Saif said they were not asking the court to stop the government from giving flats under the entire housing scheme. He said they were asking the government not to give the flats to others until the case is resolved for those whose names were being withheld. He said people applied for the flats in 2022, and the allocation of flats based on the current situation will affect those who applied then.

Saif recounted a case involving an applicant who had a disabled father and had been awarded points for being the caretaker. He stated, “Then [Housing Minister Abdullah] Muthalib compelled us to write complaints during Ramadan. We observed that the father had since passed away, and consequently, the points previously granted for his care were revoked.”

Saif said he had received many such complaints in the past three weeks. He said he would continue to file case after case in the future.

The ACC has stopped the allocation of flats to eligible people near the end of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s rule. After this government took over and reviewed the list, a new list was released in February last year, more than a year later.

The FDC started signing agreements for flats on July 21, but the process faced issues due to concerns about undisclosed recipient lists and alleged withholding of names. A list of under 100 individuals had their signing suspended after the Housing Ministry found discrepancies. The original policy was that three-bedroom flats would first be given to applicants with 76+ points, with a draw for remaining units among those scoring 75 points.

However, the Housing Ministry discovered that draws were conducted for 315 applicants with 75 points before flats were allocated to 301 applicants with 76+ points. This led the Ministry to request an investigation from the corruption watchdog on August 6th. The next day, individuals with higher points who were left off the list protested at the Housing Ministry.

The ACC has not yet commented on the matter.