Former Managing Director of Fenaka Corporation, Mohamed Nimal, spoke today denying the accusations he was facing about the illegal purchase of diesel, saying that there was no wrongdoing going inside the corporation.
Nimal spoke with the media today regarding the words said by Mohamed Nadeem during his very sudden resignation as the Chairman of the Fenaka Corporation. Mohamed Nadeem is the husband of Yumna Maumoon, the daughter of former president, Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom.
Upon his resignation, Nadeem wrote a letter to the presidential office where he said that Fenaka was in involved in deals he knew nothing about and that the decisions were taken without the knowledge of the board, and that he usually learnt about such event later from the media. He accused Fenaka of going against orders set by the presidential office in its purchase of diesel, although no details were included in his letter. Nadeem was the chairman of the board of Fenaka at this time and was also the chairman of the audit committee founded within the board. The managing director was not a part of this committee.
It was reported that the presidential office set rates at around MVR 8.00 to MVR 8.10 a liter for Fenaka to buy diesel to provide electricity to the islands serviced by the corporation.
Nimal spoke to "Avas" regarding the accusations by Nimal, saying that after Fenaka received the letter from the president's office, members of the senior management of the corporation went on to meet members of Fuel Supply Maldives (FSM), a subsidiary of STO, but due to certain complications, diesel could not be bought the generators in some atolls from FSM. And he also said that the answers Fenaka recieved from FSM and the answers STO and the presidents office received from FSM were not the same, and that all the members of the team who were present at the discussions would agree to this.
Nimal said that FSM requested fuel tanks be constructed under 300 feet from the generators in every island, and that Fenaka faced many problems because this was not possible in the short term. He also said that he spoke the councils of the islands to acquire land to build the fuel tanks but every council collectively rejected this proposals.
"The answers of the council at the time was that building fuel tanks on the coast of the islands would reduce the natural beauty, and that it would also cause complications for the councils future plans. These plans included building parks and other recreational places" Nimal said.
Nimal said that FSM provides fuel upto the coast of every island, and that carrying the fuel to the generators which were located indoors would be a huge strain on the budget. He also said that when the work is given to private contractors , they provide fuel to the generators no matter how far inland they are and that they use their own sources to provide the fuel.
"Doing this decreases the cost of buying diesel for the company (Fenaka), but FSM does not provide service this way... Fenaka recieved fuel at a lower cost then FSM was providing it" Nimal said. Nimal denies any illegal proceedings in the buying of fuel from private contractors.
"If I was involved with anyone in committing wrongdoings within Fenaka, there are ways to investigate it open to everyone by visiting the ACC, and I am very determined to clear my name from such accusations. Fenaka is like a baby to me. I worked 24 hours a day to help Fenaka reach where it is today. Today it is an institution and it is proud brand. The corporations follows policies, and nothing will be done against those policies" Nimal said." I would not wish any harm to come to Fenaka... In a competitive market, two business's cannot get the same deal. the business that does not receive the deal will always throw out accusations. A letter to the ACC by the business who did not get the deal cannot be taken as proof of wrongdoing. When everything is following policies and guidelines, when someone in a position of responsibility commits a wrongdoing, the MD does not have to take responsibility for them."
Nimal, who worked at the State Electric Company for many years, and has a higher education in marketing and management, says that the words spoken to him by Nadeem a week prior to his resignation as the chairperson and what Nadeem said in his letter upon his resignation did not match.
"He told me he was thinking of resigning because it was difficult to work with the current management" Nimal said "The person who was formally accused of illegal activites (Nimal) is currently not at the company (Fenaka). So the chairman must be able to stay correct all the current faults and stay to run the company better. Even if there were wrongdoings in the past, resigning today without giving a chance to the new management to fix such wrongdoings raises a lot of questions."
Nimal says that the problems between Nadeem and himself started when he left the latest PPM council meeting. he said that there were "slight misunderstandings" between the two after that, but that Nadeem is still a highly trusted friend.
Employees of Fenaka, when questioned by "Avas", say that they were shocked when they heard that Nimal was dismissed from his post. They also said that Nimal met with them on the night of his termination and showed his support for the current president and also requested employees of Fenaka to do the same.
Fenaka has changed the face of Maldivian Electricity. President Yameen has said that it has ensured electricity at every hour of the day, and that Nimal was the architect of this and that his name will be written in golden letters in Maldivan history.
