Nareesh dismisses lack of paper trail on USD 9.6mn fish market contract as ‘administrative error’

Former deputy mayor Ahmed Nareesh, who had headed the Male’ City Council after President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu left the mayor job upon getting elected to office in 2023, dismissed concerns over the lack of paperwork on a new USD 9.6 million contract awarded during the transitional period for the redevelopment of the capital city’s fish market as “an administrative error”, suggesting that the paperwork got "lost" due to an administrative oversight rather than foul play.

During a city council meeting on Wednesday, Adam Azim, who replaced President Muizzu in a by-election in January 2024, said that the fish market contract was amended from USD 6.1 million to USD 9.6 million and then awarded to a new party without council approval during the transitional period.

The city council had been headed by Nareesh during the transitional period.

Azim said that the reason for a new contract is unclear, and that there are no paperwork showing how it got authorized, including documents regarding any such decision by the bid committee.

Nareesh told Sun that contracts by the city council - whether the original USD 6.1 million one for the fish market or the latter USD 9.6 million one – would both require approval from the bid committee.

He said that the council’s secretary-general cannot sign off on any contracts without the committee’s approval.

“The bid committee makes the decision after bringing it to the council floor. It requires a vote. Therefore, this increase of USD 3 million in project value couldn’t have just come from the signature of a person who is in charge there,” he said.

Nareesh insisted that a council official would not sign a contract unless all paperwork was in order.

He said that the council has always followed standard procedure.

Nareesh said that the allegation by Azim regarding lack of paperwork on the second contract “does not make any sense.”

Nareesh, who currently serves a minister-level political post at the Youth Ministry, believes the lack of paperwork is an “administrative error.”

“If Azim were to leave his mayor job tomorrow and then if the paperwork on the decisions made during his tenure were to get administratively lost, and then if Azim was to be held accountable for that and made to run everywhere… this just shows mismanagement in the council, right?” he said.

Nareesh said that he himself did not sign any documents linked to the fish market contract.

During Wednesday’s city council meeting, Azim said that USD 9.6 million isn’t even something the city council can afford to pay.

“As per the terms of the contract, they can claim ownership of the whole building if we are unable to pay them. We cannot build a fish market there. Nor a local market. This is very regrettable,” he said.

At the meeting, councilman Mohamed Saif Fathih voiced fears that this might be just the tip of the iceberg, and that there may be more contracts awarded in a similar manner.

He re-iterated his call to make all city council contracts public.