Discussion held with president on main challenges faced by councils

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has met with the mayors of the two city councils and the presidents of atoll councils to discuss the challenges they face in governing the councils.

The President’s Office said that the president said at the meeting, that the purpose of the meeting was to understand the main concerns of the councils and to assist the councils in addressing those concerns. He also said that decentralized governance is new to the Maldives and that there will be challenges which will need to be addressed.

The president underscored the need for stronger relations between the government and the councils as well as for the councils to communicate with the government. He said that there needs to be a systematic means of communication between councils and government institutions, and that there must be dialogue and appropriate exchange of information in matters which involve government bodies. He said that he would facilitate arrangements for the councils to meet with government authorities.

The president also informed the councils that he would submit a supplementary budget mid this year.

The President’s Office also said that the Shaviyani Atoll Council President Moosa Fath’hy highlighted their challenges on behalf of all Atoll Councils. He said that the amount budgeted to provide fundamental services to the people is not enough and said that their administrative budget has also been reduced.

Male’ City Mayor Maizaan Ali Manik highlighted the main challenges faced by the city, and appealed for government support to tackle those challenges.

The meeting was attended by Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed and Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad. Finance Minister said that all government institutions are facing budgetary constraints due to the reduction of MVR2 billion from the proposed budget.