Male' Mayor Adam Azim has said today that recent amendments to the Land Transport Act pose difficult obstacles to services for Male' residents and will cause irredeemable loss. 

In a social media post, Azim said that the Male' City Council will no longer receive revenues from vehicle fees following the Act ratified by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu last Monday. 

He described this as a measure that strongly undermines decentralized administration. 

Revenue from vehicle fees were utilized for social services such as road repairs in Male', mosque maintenance, dewatering during flooding, maintaining road cleanliness, and providing aid during disasters.

Azim warned that without these fees, essential services would stall, causing irreversible loss for the city and its residents. 

Azim called on the government to revise the changes to the Land Transport Act and to the laws allowing the government to seize land from councils in a manner that would protect the spirit of decentralization and ensure the rights of Male' residents are met. He emphasized that it is imperative that the council be afforded financial empowerment. 

With the newly ratified Land Transport Act, vehicle fees will now be paid to a separate office being established to oversee transport matters in the capital. 

This office, titled Greater Male' Transport and Mobility Office, will be run directly under the oversight of the Transport Ministry. 

At the ceremony held to ratify the Act, President Muizzu said that the decision to establish a dedicated office for transport in the Male' area was made in light of several years of experience gathered through his past roles.