Mayor Azim has said that the City Council projects remain the responsibility of the council, and that the Ministry will only be managing them.
Male' Mayor Adam Azim has stated that major projects of the City Council was handed over to the Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure only for the purpose of the projects being managed by them.
Mayor Azim stated this at the first general meeting he held after assuming his position.
He clarified that no projects were handed over to the ministry, and that the ministry will only be managing the projects which will remain under the oversight of the council.
"No responsibilities of the City Council have been passed on to the Ministry. The contract remains between City Council and the development entity. All the responsibility of running these projects lies with the City Council," he explained.
However, Azim said that he has not yet received copies of the agreements made regarding these projects. He said that he has not received them yet despite having requested access to these documents from the Secretary General of the council.
The decision to hand over projects to the ministry was made during the City Council's general meeting held on January 17.
The projects handed over to the government:
- Villimale' commercial building
- Male' wholesale centre
- Male' mixed local market
- 14 parking buildings
- Male' City Council office building
- Villimale' outdoor children's park
- Villimale' 500 housing units
- Redevelopment of Sinamale' flats
- Villimale' women's market and futsal court
- Male' facilities upgrade project
Current Corporate Development Minister at the President's Office Mohamed Shahid, who previously worked on these projects at the council, also participated in that council meeting. He proposed handing over these projects to the ministry.
This gave rise to public criticism, with rumours arising that the government had intervened to take over projects as the newly elected Mayor is a member of the opposition.
Then Acting Mayor Ahmed Nareesh said that Shahid had joined the meeting in the capacity of a consultant to offer his expertise. He also denied any government interference in the council's decisions.
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