The Transition Committee on Decentralisation has highlighted the decentralisation process in Maldives is not functioning well. The committee further noted the government has caused major obstruction to local governments by suspending councillors and withholding their salaries.
Addressing the serial press conferences held by sub-committees of the transition committee, former Mayor Mohamed Shihab said one main reason why councils were not functioning well was because various councillors were suspended and released from duty. Discussions were held with Local Government Authority (LGA), councils, where they revealed that obstructions were caused due to not enough authority and budget, stated Shihab.
Meanwhile, current Mayor Shifa Mohamed expressed the current government worked to destruct the decentralisation system condemning the government taking all authorities to the government and silencing councils.