Addu City’s Hithadhoo Port Limited, a state-owned company that owns Hithadhoo regional port (HRP), revealed a loss of MVR 85 million by 2020.
According to the 2020 financial audit of Hithadhoo Port Limited posted by the Auditor General’s Office, the port suffered losses for the past 11 years since its inception.
The audit report revealed an average MVR 6 million loss per year. According to the audit report, it was challenging to identify the company’s position and financial direction due to the lack of necessary assessments by the company taken to reevaluate and improve its finances.
The financial audit of the port for the year 2020 further revealed poor financial management by the company citing that they could not determine how much the company owes to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) as tax due.
the Auditor General’s Office noted that verifying the report is difficult as companies and government agencies were not fully compliant in recording their financial statements.
The port was incorporated in 2009 in the hope of importing perishable goods to the south of the Maldives and reducing the charges on imported goods for local businesses. However, the port has not been utilized in recent years causing inconveniences and issues for the importers.
