Housing Ministry Receives ACC’s List of Eligible Flat Applicants

The Ministry of Housing, Land and Urban Development has revealed that it had received a compilation of forms from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) last Thursday, containing details of legitimate applicants eligible for flats allocated under the housing scheme.

The ‘Gedhoruveriya Scheme’, initiated by the previous government to provide housing to residents of the capital City, Male’, is currently undergoing beneficiary finalisation, according to statements from the Housing Ministry.

While the forms forwarded by the ACC are sourced from investigative data, the Housing Ministry emphasised that it is working to ascertain the rightful beneficiaries under the Gedhoruveriya scheme. However, specific details regarding this process were not disclosed.

The ACC’s intervention in late November suspended the handover of 4,000 Gedhoruveriya flats, following allegations of corrupt practices in the previous government’s allocation procedures and unauthorized transfer of land registries.

Despite ongoing investigations, the commission recently granted approval to the Housing Ministry to proceed with flat allocations under specified conditions.

A total of 20,696 applications were received for flats under the Gedhoruveriya scheme, with the previous government’s Housing Ministry initially identifying 18,167 individuals as eligible beneficiaries.

Upon receipt of the ACC’s list, it was revealed that the commission had scrutinized only 4,048 forms during their investigation.

According to the ACC’s findings from the examined forms, approximately 20.7% of applicants were deemed eligible without any issues. Around 19.7% of the forms encountered eligibility problems, while ineligible forms accounted for approximately 59.6% of the total.

The Housing Ministry and ACC’s collaborative efforts signify a concerted approach towards ensuring transparency and fairness in the allocation process, addressing concerns of corruption and malpractice raised by stakeholders.