New councils will see better governance: LGA

Mohamed Naseer, Director General of the local council oversight body, Local Government Authority (LGA) has said that based on past three years of local governance in the Maldives, the newly elected councils will see improvements in their governance and administration.

Speaking at a press conference today, Naseer said the LGA will conduct an orientation session for the new councilors, before their inauguration.

Noting that the councils have not receiving the 50 percent share of rent fee earned from the atoll shops as promised by the government, Naseer said Finance Minister has said that the decision has not been implemented because of the current financial situation of the country.

“Finance Minister said in a discussion with us last year that it is difficult for the government to suddenly give the money to the councils. The government views it as a debt to the councils. The government has decided to give 50 percent share of the atoll stores to the councils,” Naseer said, speaking at the press conference today.

Director of Legal Affairs at LGA Ahmed Shihad said the authority’s efforts to standardize the municipal regulations assembled by the local councils has now come to close. He said the Attorney General’s Office is currently reviewing 2128 regulations forwarded by the local councils and that they will soon be published in the government gazette for implementation.

Maldives saw its second local council election last Saturday where 2463 candidates competed for 1100 island, atoll and city council seats. The country implemented its first decentralized local government system in 2011.