Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) yesterday announced plans to sue Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz for withholding most of the Rf95 million (US$6.1 million) budget endorsed for the corporation by parliament, Haveeru Online reports.
MBC Chairperson Umar Manik said that out of the Rf95 million allocated to MBC, the Finance Ministry had only provided the salaries of board members and no other funding was made available for other costs incurred by the corporation.
Mr Manik said that letters sent to the ministry regarding the matter went unheeded.
There was a lot of work to be done by the corporation which it had not been able to pursue because of a lack of funds and MBC wanted the money in small amounts, he said.
A press release issued by MBC yesterday stated that the corporation was unable to pay rent and bills and had been fined for it.
"The decision to sue [the minister] followed difficulties endured by the corporation as our budget is withheld at the Finance Ministry regardless of repeated requests. We even requested they provide just the amount needed to run the corporation smoothly, inquired the reason why the budget is being withheld and wrote to the parliament and Maldives Broadcasting Commission, to no avail," the press release read.
Mr Manik revealed that MBC was working through the legal procedures quickly and that the case would be filed in court by Sunday.
(Source : Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)
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