Freed from enslavement, a big victory: Hulhudhoo/Meedhoo

Today, two MPs said that Addu Hulhudhoo and Addu Meedhoo being freed from "enslavement" is a complete victory.

Yesterday's Addu Council referendum vote saw Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo back the split, with Feydhoo voting against it.

Provisional results showed that while 4,355 Feydhoo residents were eligible to vote, only 2,436 had voted. 2,874 Hulhudhoo residents were eligible to vote but only 1,069 had voted.

Meedhoo independent MP Abdul Rahman spoke to Mihaaru News regarding the provisional results, stating the vote has facilitated the use of the ocean, lagoons and the like. With the freedom of a separate council, the people of Meedhoo can now develop as they see fit, as was said by the MP.

As per Abdul Rahman, island development can be done in a much better manner with a separate council.

He also highlighted that since Hulhudhoo's recurrent costs are at MVR 800,000, a portion of the government grant would be left over, which can go towards development work.

The referendum vote saw 2,347 Meedhoo residents be eligible to vote, with only 1,008 having taken part.

Abdul Rahman said that even if 100 percent of the voters had gone to vote, the outcome would have been the same.

"This is genuinely the real result of those who are able to vote," said the MP.

"I am confident even our grandchildren will not regret this. Everyone wants freedom, from our first houses, and our families, to go to our own homes and rebuild our lives. This is what it is. We see the separation of the council as freedom. I saw it as enslavement," said Abdul Rahman.

As per Abdul Rahman, various parties from the island want to work on projects and conduct tourism ventures. He said that they do not receive cooperation from the council for such things.

Abdul Rahman said that Meedhoo wants good education and more income opportunities, with the hope that a separate council can provide that. He also said that residents have traveled in search of such opportunities. He said that nevertheless, the hope that they would come back with this change is very real.

Hulhudhoo PNC member Mohamed Shahid stated that since the introduction of the Decentralization Act 15 years ago, he has been advocating for a separate council for the island residents.

He said that it is hard for Hulhudhoo to gain access to services due to it being quite far from other islands.

Shahid stated that due to those difficulties, residents of Hulhudhoo were unsatisfied and felt anger, with those emotions being aimed at the administration in power at the time. Even though the Decentralization Act empowered providing services to citizens via the council's budget, Shahid said that hope has been lost as time went on.

"It is difficult to be this far from other islands. Meedhoo residents were losing patience and wanted to move forward with a separate council," said Shahid.

As per Shahid, even though residents from Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo had requested for separate councils for years, no President dared to do as such. However, Shahid said that the act was amended and the opportunity given upon request from both island's residents.

"The residents of Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo wanted to use this opportunity to rise above such difficulties and constraints. This is how the decision was made. I am quite glad and grateful," said Shahid.

Shahid also stated that the people of Hulhudhoo experienced and saw enslavement in regards to the difficulties of the operational field and because of that, the island receiving such influence is a great victory.

Shahid went on to say that even though they have separated from the city council, Hulhudhoo is still a part of Addu. He said that that identity will not be lost.