Malé City Council has decided to meet residents of each neighborhood separately as part of efforts to develop a new land-use plan for the capital.

The council said today that it has begun work to revise Male's land-use plan in line with the Rethink Male' Urban Strategy and the Local Development Plan framework.

The council will hold separate consultations with residents of each neighborhood to gather their views on the plan.

The first meeting will be held with residents of Galolhu at 8.30pm on Saturday. Residents of Vilimale' have also been invited to attend the meeting.

A land-use plan was previously prepared and submitted to the Planning Ministry when President Dr Mohamed Muizzu was Mayor of Male'. However, the plan was never approved.

The council's decision comes amid criticism over its expenditure on public consultations required under the Decentralization Act. The council has reportedly spent MVR1.1 million on such meetings this year.

According to information obtained by Ahmed Aiham under the Right to Information Act on July 20, MVR567,839 was spent on a public meeting held in February.

Responding to criticism over the expenditure, Mayor Adam Azim said on social media that MVR2,050,520 was spent on two public meetings in 2023. However, he said the cost of holding such meetings has since been significantly reduced.