Male’ City Council seeks interim order to stop govt’s repossession of 14 land plots

The Malé City Council has filed a case in the Civil Court seeking an interim order to prevent the government from reposessing 14 plots of land currently under the council’s jurisdiction.

On October 15th, Housing Ministry announced that 14 prominent locations in the Malé area, including the Fish Market, Sultan Park and the Carnival area, would be transferred from the City Council to the government. 

Following the announcement, the City Council convened an emergency meeting the next day, where it decided to challenge the move in court. The government has stated that the decision was prompted by a lack of cooperation from the council, which it alleges has delayed development projects.

Speaking at the Malé City Council’s official general meeting on Wednesday, Deputy Mayor Mekhael Mohamed Riyaz, who presided over the session, said the council had requested information from the relevant authorities about the development projects cited as the reason for transferring the land. However, he noted that no details had been provided to date.

Mekhael added that although the authorities had invited the council to submit objections or comments before the transfer, the council could only respond meaningfully if it was given specific information about the proposed projects.

"As the mandatory legal procedures required under land-related laws for such circumstances have not been followed, we have filed a court request seeking an interim order," Mekhael said.

Amendments to the Decentralization Act, which came into effect last September, empower the government to remove land from the jurisdiction of local and city councils to facilitate the implementation of national development projects.