ACC files case against border control system

ACC did not reveal the details of the court case. Meanwhile, the Cabinet has decided to resume the now-halted border control system to be developed by Malaysia's Nexbis Limited. Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid said yesterday that Nexbis would be notified of the decision made by the Cabinet on October 18 to resume the border control system. "The company also wants to proceed with the project," he said. Immigration Department signed a 20-year build, operate, and transfer (BOT) concession contract with Malaysia's Nexbis Limited on October 17, 2010, despite the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) informing the department to adjourn the signing ceremony after it received a "serious" public complaint. President Mohamed Nasheed, on January 26, asked the department to halt the project, which the ACC said, was carried out in a way that could lead to corruption. The Cabinet deliberated on the matter and recommended the department to proceed with the project, later assigning National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) to oversee the agreement between the department and Nexbis. Under the Rf500 million project, an electronic border gate system would be established in Male International Airport. According to the bidding invitation announcement issued early last year, the electronic border gate system should be equipped with automated facial recognition technology and fingerprint technology to identify the immigrants and an integrated system should provide instant access to travel document records, passport, and visa and fingerprint database. Haveeru, however, learned from reliable sources that Nexbis's system does not include key features including e-gate, automated facial recognition technology and passport production. The government should repay the initial investment of the system which would cost about US$39 million (Rf501 million) within 20 years. A US$2 fee is to be charged from every foreigner entering the country and US$15 has to be paid for work visa. Nexbis is required to pay five percent of its profit to the government as royalty.
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