The Male' city council on Wednesday approved the transfer of big-budget projects to the Infrastructure Ministry.
President's Office Corporate Development Minister Mohamed Shahid (Shaadu) participated in today's city council meeting. He was formerly a city council employee who oversaw some administrative matters of projects carried out by the council.
"In order to speed up the projects without any changes to the terms agreed by the council, I am proposing temporarily handing over the management of these projects to the relevant ministry. As that ministry, I am proposing the Ministry of Infrastructure," Shahid said.
He presented a paper at the city council meeting, which proposed transferring projects with a cost above MVR 100 million to the government. The council approved the proposal but decided that the projects would revert back to the council if the government failed to begin work within six months.
"Considering the value of the projects, each of the projects we're proposing would be above about MVR 100 million as a rule if an evaluation is to be made. Even if the council is not spending, a lot of matters have to be considered technically when such projects are carried out," Shahid said.
The councillors who attended today's meeting decided unanimously to proceed with the proposal in the paper. The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives-People's National Congress (PPM-PNC) coalition has a majority in the council.
The projects to be transferred were not clear from the meeting.
The decision to transfer the city council's major projects to the government comes five days before the swearing-in of Mayor-Elect Adam Azim, who belongs to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
Incumbent President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu was the mayor for the past two years.
