Islands with a population below 3,000 people should have three councillors, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has proposed in a suggestion to a study on the decentralisation system.
Speaking at a function held last night to inaugurate the second phase of the "Kurangi" operation launched to gather information about foreign workers, the President said that the local government framework should be seriously reconsidered in order to improve the functioning of councils.
The purpose of the ongoing study by the National University that was commissioned by the Local Government Ministry is to identify how operational costs could be managed for sustainable expenditure on other public services instead of keeping the current "costly" structure in place, the President said.
"When the system is shaped to elect very many people in a manner that requires very much expenditure no matter how small the island's population is, it doesn't produce the most desired results," said President Muizzu, who previously served as mayor of Male'.
As a suggestion, the President proposed electing three councillors for islands with a population of fewer than 3,000 people, which had been the number of council members previously elected in 2014 and 2017 as well before it was increased to five councillors in 2021.
The President said his proposal was to elect one councillor to represent women and one councillor to represent youth. The third councillor would be the council president, he said.
"Women would be represented under such a structure. Youth would be represented. Then when most of the budget that's received is shaped to be able to provide a large salary to civil servants, it can be operated much better. The whole council can be happily operated much better," he said.
Despite making the suggestion last night, the President said that a final decision will be made after seeking the opinion of as many people as possible in light of the findings of the academic research study underway by the Councils Ministry and the National University.
Legal changes will be made soon to allocate a portion of tourism tax receipts to councils, the President said last night, noting that empowering councils is a policy of the current government as well.
The government's aim is to ensure basic services in every atoll, the President said. The dependence on the Male' region for many services will be brought to an end, he said.
