An amendment to the Decentralization Act has been proposed, which reads that the government will be allowed to remove plots under island council ownership for project purposes.
Thulhaadhoo Constituency MP Abdul Hannan Aboobakuru submitted the amendment to the Parliament, where it seeks to amend the article related to ownership within areas in council jurisdiction.
The amendment seeks to add an additional clause where if the government decides to, they have the power to remove islands from council ownership.
The amendment reads that the Cabinet can decide to remove islands from the council's jurisdiction for development projects being conducted by the government.
After the Cabinet makes that decision and once the relevant national agency informs the council, the plot will no longer be under the ownership of the council, as was written in the amendment.
The bill states the plot will become a place where the state can fully exert their powers.
There were additional amendments submitted as well, with the bill reading that in the situations where the government requests a plot in order to conduct a development project which does not yet have an approved physical development plan of the island and is not being implemented, the council will have to hand over the plots for the project to the national agency.
An amendment to the council member's disciplinary code was also proposed. It reads that island councils are to offer their full cooperation if the government wants to carry out projects for the collective benefit of the people on the island.
The amendment continues by stating that no one is allowed to obstruct any government projects for the collective benefit of the people, or to make decisions or rulings that can possibly stop the projects.
While the amendment to the act was proposed, the government has stated that some island councils have withheld plots from the government and their projects. The government said that because of this, some of the projects for island development have faced delays, stopped completely and more.
