Mayor of Addu Ali Nizar stated yesterday that it would not be possible to even allocate employee salaries from the annual block grant funding that is given to Addu City Council by the government.
He made this statement in response to Minister of Infrastructure, Urban and Housing Development Dr. Abdulla Muththalib's answer to a question that was posed to him during yesterday's Parliament session.
While answering a question from Maradhoo constituency MP and MDP member Ahmed Didi regarding the repair of the Addu Link Road, Minister Muththalib said that the councils have not been making use of the funding given by the government for maintenance purposes.
"I think that if the state is giving hundreds of millions to Addu City Council and they still do not have a mechanism where they can repair potholes, then the council has failed," said Muththalib.
Mayor Nizar shared a video in response to this statement, saying that the 2026 block grant from the government to Addu City Council would not even cover employee salaries, and that is not including bill payments for electricity and water either.
According to Nizar, Addu City Council has seen the most profit regarding their revenue out of all the other councils. He said that the amendment to the law that was done during the MDP government where vehicle fees were to be paid to the council is an additional revenue stream as well.
"I always talk about our revenue going from MVR 14 million to MVR 40 million, which comes from council plots and other plots being rented out. We are repairing Addu City's Link Road with that money. We are doing what the people want as well," said the Mayor of Addu.
He went on to say that they have been using that money to start more projects in Addu, even more than the government.
"These are not being done via the grant. We are unable to even provide salaries to our employees from the grant this year," said Nizar.
The regulation under the Decentralization Act which states that the amount given via a block grant from the government has seen an amendment. Previously, the amount would be dictated by the population of the island but it has since been amended to consider the size of the island itself.
One of the biggest issues Addu is currently facing is the extensive damage to the Addu Link Road, with Minister Muththalib stating in Parliament yesterday that the Road Development Corporation (RDC) will be getting started on the project very soon.
Mayor Nizar said that RDC was awarded the project to repair the Addu Link Road almost a year and a half ago, and that there has been no progress in the project. He also said that the minister needs to look into the reason why the project is at a standstill.
Nizar continued, stating that the council has spent millions on repairing the Addu Link Road but that the road is in such a state that it cannot be used just by conducting simple repairs, and that repairing Addu Link Road once again is the government's responsibility.
"When we take a look at the airport, none of the buildings have any electricity even as the project is nearing completion. There is no electricity because when the government agreed to take on the project, the agreement included that electricity and its wiring would not be installed unless it is paid for by the government. That is something the government needs to do," said Nizar, who has been re-elected as Mayor of Addu from the 4th April Local Council Election.
As per Nizar, projects in Addu are on pause as the Ministry of Infrastructure, Urban and Housing Development have not been cooperative.
During yesterday's Parliament session, Minister Muththalib had criticized Male' City Council as well.
He maintained that it is the State which ultimately has to tackle flooding in Male' streets, and questioned the purpose of the block grant allocated to the city council.
"When a road is damaged, or any issues arise, it is the government that is expected to address it. What is the use of the hundreds of million in block grants given to the council? Should the council simply exist just to talk with the citizens? What do they do?"
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu had spoken on the issue of block grants given to councils being untouched during many of his meetings last year.
While speaking at B. Eydhafushi on 12th August 2025, the President said that MVR 1.4 billion of the MVR 2.2 billion total from the 2024 council block grant had remained unspent by the end of the year.
"Even this year is seeing the same trend and we've reached August. A huge percentage is still being saved in the Block Grant that has been given for this year," President Muizzu said.
