President Dr Mohamed Muizzu stated last night that if the Male' City Council does not hand over the land for the new market complex, the government may need to seize the land. 

Speaking on State TV PSM's 'Nation Chat' podcast, President Muizzu said that development of the market complex has been significantly delayed due to obstruction from the city council. In response, the government may need to seize the land through legal boundaries. However, this is not the government's desired course of action, and it would only be a last resort, the President clarified. 

"We have been unable to construct the market complex. We are facing various kinds of obstruction. Ultimately, we are having to seize the land through legal means. This is not how we wanted to do this," the President said. 

The President said that if the land is seized as such, the government may be accused of undermining decentralization. He said that he may then be accused of being against decentralization. 

Maldives will see positive change if the opposition stops making such insincere claims, the President said, asserting that this is the change that the country needs. 

Earlier, in the second episode of the President's Office's 'The Pulse' podcast, President Muizzu revealed that it has been four months since a contractor had been found and funds arranged for the project via Bank of Maldives. He said that the despite the government having fulfilled all preparation to commence the project, it was being delayed solely due to the council failing to hand over the allocated land. 

The new complex, planned to be built where the local market now stands, will bring a holistic solution for much of the trade conducted in the area, the President noted. 

Speaking at a city council meeting, Male' Mayor Adam Azim said that the council had received a letter from the Infrastructure Ministry requesting that land be handed over to Fisheries Ministry to develop a fish market. He noted that the project had been contracted to two different companies during the previous term. 

Azim said that the land cannot be handed over to another party before the existing contract is voided. He stated that all details regarding this has been shared with the government as well.