The Privatisation and Corporatisation Board has announced the board of Maldives Awqaf Investment Limited, a wholly state-owned company set up by presidential decree.
Its job is to develop waqf properties, build new mosques and renovate existing ones, along with Shari'ah-compliant commercial activities to sustain the work. That work was previously handled by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
Izzuddin Adnan, Director General of the Zakat House, chairs the board. Yameen Idris, formerly managing director of the Maldives Hajj Corporation, is managing director. The other members are State Minister of Finance Hussain Sham Adam, Mohamed Shujau of the Islamic University of Maldives, Maryam Nihayath, Abdullah Ali and Mohamed Hilmy.
Authorised capital is MVR 100 million, in one million shares of MVR 100. No specific reason for creating the company was given, and observers note it sits awkwardly with the government's policy of shrinking state enterprises.
