Auditor General's Office (AGO) has revealed the Maldives Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been negligent in implementing the recommendations proposed by multiple audits of the Addu flying school.
Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation requested AGO to conduct the audit on Addu flying school in January over the numerous complaints regarding its operations.
In a performance audit report on the regulation of the Addu flying school, AGO stated it has investigated the problems and subsequent actions taken at the school from 2018 and 2020. In the performance audit report, AGO stated CAA had failed to take action after receiving information on the various issues regarding the planes being used at the school. The school's fleet capacity was not expanded following the complaints submitted over students not being able to meet their required flying time, it also stated.
Furthermore, AGO highlighted CAA had failed to take action against the numerous violations of Maldivian aviation regulations at the school. It stated the likely reason for the failure to take action is the potential harm done to students if the operations at Addu Flying School was halted, as there was no alternative flying school in the Maldives.
Additionally, AGO stated CAA had also failed to take action over the inadequate number of teachers at the school after the authority was notified of the issue in 2016. The audit report also highlighted the failure of the Ministry of Higher Education to assist the students struggling to complete their training at the school. It noted the failure to take action could also be a result of a lack of regulation specifying one government authority to be held responsible for solving the problems at the Addu flying school.
AGO has notified the relevant government authorities to formulate a plan to solve the various problems at the school in the given deadline.