Ministry of Islamic Affairs has expressed concern that the Male' City Council is holding a fundraising telethon to repair and renovate mosques in the city. The ministry allocates a separate budget every year for the renovation of mosques in the city.
Speaking to PSM News, Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr. Ahmed Zahir Ali said that the Male' City Council has allocated a budget of USD65,000 for the renovation of mosques in 2020. He said that the ministry has informed the city council that the funds should be used in 2021 if they do not comply with the request to submit a report on the use of the funds. He, however, said that the city council said it did not use the funds when asked about the use of the funds in 2021.
Additionally, Minister Zahir said that a budget of USD130,000 was allocated for the renovation of mosques in the city in 2022. He, however, said the ministry was not notified if the funds were used and the bills for repairing the mosques were not submitted to the ministry.
Furthermore, Minister Zahir said that he was concerned that the city council was holding a fundraising event to repair the mosques without using the budget of over USD200,000 allocated for the renovation and maintenance of the mosques in the last three years.
It is the responsibility of the council to maintain and repair the mosques in the city by utilising the budget allocated by the ministry. The ministry said the city council has not shared details of conducting any such work in the past three years.