State Electric Company Limited (STELCO) has begun assessing utility infrastructure in islands that will come under its management as preparations get underway for the company to assume responsibility for utility services across the Maldives.
The first assessments are currently being carried out in Addu City and GDh. Thinadhoo, where STELCO teams are examining existing utility infrastructure and operations ahead of the planned transfer.
STELCO said the surveys are intended to establish the condition of services and facilities in areas that will newly come under the company’s responsibility.
The work follows President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s announcement on September 7 that Fenaka Corporation will be dissolved and its utility operations consolidated under STELCO.
Once the restructuring is completed, STELCO will assume responsibility for utility services currently managed by Fenaka, significantly expanding the company’s operations beyond its existing service areas.
The decision forms part of a wider restructuring of state-owned enterprises announced by the government this month. The President’s Office said the changes are aimed at improving operational efficiency, reducing unnecessary expenditure and eliminating duplication in staffing across state-owned companies.
President Muizzu said technical assessments had indicated that maintaining Fenaka as a separate company was not financially sustainable in the long term, despite previous attempts to improve its financial position.
Under the restructuring plan, Fenaka’s operations will therefore be integrated into STELCO rather than continuing under two separate state-owned utility companies.
The government has also said the consolidation will involve adjusting staffing levels across the affected companies. According to the President’s Office, the restructuring is intended to allow the companies to operate at an optimal scale while reducing duplicated positions and expenditure.
The move is not STELCO’s first expansion into areas traditionally managed by Fenaka. Before the decision to consolidate utility operations nationwide, the government had already transferred responsibility for utility services in four atolls to STELCO.
STELCO has historically been the principal electricity provider in the Greater Malé region, supplying the country’s largest concentration of residential and commercial electricity customers.
The latest decision will transform the scale of the company’s operations, with STELCO ultimately expected to take responsibility for services across the country as Fenaka’s existing operations are absorbed.
Fenaka was established to provide essential utility services to communities outside the Greater Malé region and has operated powerhouses and other utility infrastructure across a large number of inhabited islands.
The company has faced growing scrutiny over its finances, staffing and operations. The government has said that excessive recruitment beyond operational requirements contributed to higher expenditure and created challenges in running the company efficiently.
The Fenaka restructuring is part of a broader overhaul of state-owned companies announced by President Muizzu on September 7. The government also decided to dissolve Road Development Corporation and consolidate its operations under Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC).
The President’s Office said the wider restructuring programme is intended to strengthen corporate governance and make the delivery of public services more cost-effective.
With the decision now moving into the implementation stage, the surveys in Addu and Thinadhoo mark some of the first field preparations for STELCO’s transition into a nationwide utility service provider.
