Malé City Council reports MTCC to Police and LGA for violations

Malé City Council has filed a complaint against Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) with the Maldives Police Service and Local Government Authority (LGA) for an alleged violation.

MTCC announced on Thursday that the company’s planned EV-bus service will launch in Vilimalé on Friday, January 20. The company made its announcement not long after City Council said it was preparing to launch electric buggy services in Vilimalé next month on Tuesday.

“We are hoping to launch our EV-bus services in Vilimalé on January 20… We will be publishing the RTL map and bus schedule in the coming days,” a statement from MTCC read.

Businesses or individuals can only haul vehicles into Vilimalé under City Council regulations and after obtaining permission from the authority.

Malé City Mayor Dr. Mohamed Muizzu claimed MTCC transported the vehicles without obtaining the council’s permission, adding that the incident has already been lodged with relevant law enforcement bodies.

“Bringing in vehicles to Vilimalé, which is under the council’s jurisdiction, can be done only after obtaining our permission. But last night the buses were transported into Vilimalé discreetly without our approval,” Dr. Muizzu said.

He further alleged that the government was intentionally violating the regulations in an attempt to influence the the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) primary elections in January.

Muizzu alleged that MTCC transported the vehicles to Vilimalé at midnight on Thursday.

MTCC earlier revealed that it would be bringing six environmentally-friendly 11-seater buses specific to Vilimalé.

The City Council on Tuesday shared a video of a buggy on Twitter stating it will acquire 10 buggies by late January to commence its public transport operation next month, as part of its strategic action plan.

MTCC was not available for comment regarding the matter.