The Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation has decided to amend the regulations on the number of vehicles that can be registered and the duration of their use to address the challenges faced by local councils in determining the number of vehicles that can be driven in the islands.
According to the Land Transport Act, the number of road vehicles to be registered and the period for which the vehicles can be used in a particular area must be determined by the local councils. Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Mohamed Ameen said the councils face challenges in implementing the laws due to the basic criteria of the assessment required to determine the number of vehicles that can be registered. Therefore, he said the ministry is evaluating the laws to address the difficulties in its implementation, adding that amendments will be made within the next two months to make it easier for the councils to do their work.
The assessment required under the act includes 22 main criteria. As such, the local councils need to make assessments of the rate of population growth, the number of vehicular use areas and the number of parking slots. Councils also need to assess the number of vehicles currently in the island and used regularly as well as the state of the public transportation system.
Additionally, councils need to assess the volume of vehicle imports and the distribution of the types of vehicles used for different purposes. As a result, councils have faced challenges in carrying out the work. However, Minister Ameen said amendments to the rules will make the work easier.
Traffic congestion is the worst in the capital, Male' City. The new Mayor, Adam Azim, has said that one of his top priorities will be to limit vehicles in the city. He added that discussions have been initiated with the relevant authorities and the vehicle limit and duration of use will be changed within the next six months.