Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission (MMBC) says they are working on disbursing the media grant to media outlets before the end of this year.
During his 2023 presidential campaign, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu pledged to allocate a percentage of the state budget towards supporting local media.
In August, the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts opened applications for the media grant program.
And on October 29, announced that 18 media outlets qualified for the grant, and would have MVR 27.9 million disbursed among them based on their score. But the decision was revoked the next day, following questions over the fairness of the point system.
The task was handed over to the MMBC - a new commission created in August under a contentious new law that led to the dissolution of Maldives Broadcasting Commission (BroadCom) and Maldives Media Council (MMC).
Zamath Ahmed Waheed, the vice president of MMBC, told Sun on Sunday that they are working with the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts to disburse the grant money before the year ends.
But she declined to comment on the progress level.
The list of recipients of the media grant drew immediate scrutiny after it became clear that the biggest funding was going to Sangu, a media house linked to Information Minister Mohamed Waheed (Asward). Sangu is slated to receive MVR 5.1 million in total; MVR 3.8 million for Sangu TV and MVR 1.3 million for Sangu Online.
Some industry veterans expressed concern over the fairness and transparency of the process, stating that the points must reflect the number of employees, societal impact, pension and salary practices, and scope of coverage.