Member of the Male' City Council for the Galolhu North Constituency, Saif Faathih has revealed that the government had raised the project cost for the development of Ameenee Magu from 39 millon to 84 million without any discussion with the Male' City Council.
At this morning's press conference, Saif recalled that the Male' City Council had an agreement with the Road Development Corporation, which was signed last year. He went on to note that the government had taken the decision to reassign the project to RDC through the Planning Ministry without deliberating the matter or taking the agreement into consideration. "This is not the decentralisation that I had envisioned", he stressed.
"We and a lot of other local government bodies in the country are at the mercy of government companies, and rely on their support to get things done", Saif said. "We are the clients, and in a decentralised system, things should not be this way", he added.
Noting that the government's attitude has been one of shutting out the MCC from all deliberations, Saif highlighted the example of the recent decision to re-develop the Gaolhu National Stadium in the same plot. "They do not see fit to discuss issues, and ignore the letter and spirit of the local government act", he added.