News Desk
MALÉ — Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) is carrying at least 600 staff beyond its operational requirements, squandering more than 20 million Rufiyaa every month, Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Nazim told Majlis on Monday.
Speaking during a floor debate on the Auditor General’s audit report regarding recruitment practices at Fenaka Corporation, the former Deputy Speaker argued that the country’s present economic constraints leave the government with no choice but to “rightsize” state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and trim bloated payrolls to sustainable levels.
Nazim revealed that during his tenure on the Public Accounts Committee, senior executives from the port operator — including its then Chief Executive Officer — openly acknowledged that the company was saddled with 600 workers above what was necessary.
“We are talking about 600 excess employees,” Nazim said. “When you look at an average salary of 20,000 to 30,000 Rufiyaa, around 20 million Rufiyaa is draining out each month. The vast majority of these individuals merely clock in and head straight home.”
The veteran lawmaker linked the unchecked injection of cash into the domestic economy directly to currency instability, pointing out that the price of the US dollar on the market had spiked by over 40 per cent due to excess Rufiyaa liquidity.
He sharply criticised political appointments across state companies, comparing the practice of padding payrolls for political favour to “stuffing cotton into the public pillow.” As prominent examples of opportunistic hiring, Nazim highlighted recruitment sprees carried out by state firms in the lead-up to the 19th Parliament’s by-elections in the Komandoo and Maafushi constituencies.
Handing out nominal jobs to keep staff idle at home without accountability demonstrates a clear failure of leadership on the part of state enterprise managing directors, Nazim insisted, stressing that state companies must urgently be rendered fit and lean.
To demonstrate that public utilities can maintain uninterrupted services with reduced manpower, Nazim cited the handover of powerhouse operations in Meemu Atoll to STELCO last June. Following the transition, power services across the atoll continued smoothly despite operating without large cohorts of former workers — including 19 staff previously stationed at the Naalaafushi powerhouse and 11 at Veyvah.
Monday’s speech was Nazim’s first address on the floor of the People’s Majlis since resigning from his post as Deputy Speaker on 31 May.
