Malé, Maldives – WZR Property Sdn Bhd group has filed a lawsuit against the government, for failure to make a payment of USD 22 million owed for the work done on a 25-storey building located in the Hulhumalé district, with the Greater Male’ City region.
When the project was first assigned to the Malaysian company, the building was meant to be located in Malé. The project was later moved to Hulhumalé, however, construction was stalled due to difficulties in procuring loans for the project.
The company later filed for arbitration, the conclusion of which involved the Housing Development Corporation being ordered to pay USD 22 million to WZR Property.
According to reports published by Malaysian media, citing the company’s management, WZR Property has made numerous attempts in various ways to procure the money and, due to delays in receiving payment from the Maldivian Government, have incurred substantial losses.
The present move to sue was described as a last-ditch effort, prompted by a failure to acquire the money through simpler means.
Further, the company’s chairman Datuk Sazmi Miah, claimed that WZR Property and six other international companies had been invited to submit proposals to develop a 25-storey office complex by the Maldives’ Ministry of Finance.
Once WZR Property won the nearly USD 123 million project, they were awarded the contract on 1st February 2016, and an agreement was signed between both parties a month later.
A novation agreement was signed between WZR Property and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) on 7th March 2017. However, Sazmi told Malay Mail that the company is yet to receive “a single [amount] of the payment” despite completing 20 percent of the total work and 60 percent of the pilings for the structure.
