Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Mohamed Ameen has revealed plans to refer cases of registering more than the allowed number of garages and issuing fraudulent garage letters without the owners' knowledge to the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
During a press briefing on the transport ministry's activities in the first six months of the new government, Minister Ameen highlighted the garage letter issue as a major concern. He emphasised that letters have been created and sold in the names of properties without the owners' consent, and properties without actual garages have been falsely designated as such.
Additionally, Minister Ameen expressed concern over the loss of rights for citizens uninvolved in these fraudulent activities. He classified these incidents as severe fraud and confirmed that the cases will be reported to the ACC and MPS for thorough investigation.
Furthermore, Minister Ameen revealed that unauthorised individuals had accessed the ministry's vehicle registration software. To address this, he said that the ministry is enhancing the security of its monitoring software.
The transport ministry disclosed that in 2019, a single garage was used to register 1,700 cars, underscoring the chaos in vehicle registration. The lack of regulation, particularly in Male' City, has exacerbated congestion issues.