Gov’t to Disburse Media Grants Before Year-End
Maldives Media Commission plans to release media grants to outlets soon | Photo: The President’s Office
The Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission (MMBC) is preparing to disburse the media grant to local outlets before the end of the year.
The grant programme was first promised by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu during his 2023 presidential campaign, when he pledged to allocate a portion of the state budget to support local media. In August, the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts opened applications for the grant.
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On 29 October, the ministry announced that 18 media outlets had qualified to receive a total of MVR 27.9 million, distributed according to a scoring system. The following day, the decision was revoked after concerns were raised over the fairness of the point allocation.
Responsibility for the programme was subsequently transferred to the MMBC, a new body established in August under legislation that dissolved the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (BroadCom) and the Maldives Media Council (MMC). The commission is working with the ministry to ensure the grant is disbursed before the end of the year, but declined to provide details on the progress.
The announced list of recipients drew immediate attention after it emerged that the largest share of funding would go to Sangu, a media house linked to Information Minister Mohamed Waheed (Asward). Sangu is expected to receive MVR 5.1 million, including MVR 3.8 million for Sangu TV and MVR 1.3 million for Sangu Online.
