Parliament of the Maldives has passed the decision to enforce legal action over the corruption involved in the procurement of medical oxygen by Maldive Gas Private Limited.
The Parliamentary Committee on State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) had conducted an inquiry into the procurement of 4,128 oxygen cylinders by Maldive Gas amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The inquiry report prepared by the committee stated the companies which had been contracted by Maldive Gas to procure the cylinders had sent old and unusable oxygen cylinders, resulting in major losses to Maldive Gas. As such, the report stated the cylinders procured through A&G Industrial Gas Private Limited and Probiz Impex Private Limited cannot be used without conducting hydrostatic tests, which would be costly for Maldive Gas.
The committee report passed by the parliament calls for negotiations with A&G Industrial Gas and Probiz Impex to seek compensation for the damages incurred to Maldive Gas, and to initiate the required legal action. Furthermore, Maldive Gas has been instructed to amend its procurement policy and submit it to the parliament committee before April 30.
The allegations of corruption in procuring the oxygen cylinders were made against Deputy Managing Director of Maldive Gas Ikram Ali. As such, the SOE committee said Deputy Managing Director Ikram Ali had instructed the contract to be awarded to Probiz to procure the cylinders quickly, despite the company submitting a higher quotation compared to other companies. Following the initiation of the investigation, Ikram Ali resigned from his position.