City Council draws up five-year development plan for Male

Male’ City Council has drawn up a five-year plan for the development of Male’ City.

Male’ City Mayor Maizan Ali Manik said at a session held to provide information to the public on the Decentralisation Act, that the council faced serious challenges over the past two years, which meant that it could not carry out several big and important projects. He said that several projects were undertaken despite the obstructions imposed by the government.

Maizan Ali Manik said that the purpose of the five-year plan is to facilitate a peaceful environment and a healthy lifestyle for the people of Male’.

The plan includes solutions to the problem of congestion by utilising the empty spaces in Male’, and policies on finding domestic as well as international business opportunities for businesses of Male’ City. It also states that the council has the opportunity to privatise preschools.

The plan notes that it would be a challenge to develop Hulhumale’ and Vilimale’ to the standard of Male’, due to the lack of a system for small and medium sized businesses to obtain loans in order to expand. Other challenges highlighted in the plan include laws that prohibit long-term lease of premises to foreign groups for development, and failure to obtain foreign aid.

The plan includes policies on waste management, environmental protection, provision of basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation, and provision of facilities to the elderly.