Housing Minister Criticises City Councils Over Lack of Cooperation on Infrastructure Projects

The Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Dr Abdulla Muththalib, has criticised local councils in Malé and Addu for what he described as a lack of cooperation and failure to fulfil their responsibilities in maintaining infrastructure.

Speaking during a parliamentary session today, Dr Muththalib said the Malé City Council had not cooperated with government-led projects, citing delays in the development of Boduthakurufaanu Magu as a key example.

He stated that repeated requests had been made to the council to remove a market obstructing work on the northern side of the road, but no response had been received. According to the minister, the road has been completed without pavement due to the unresolved issue.

“How many letters were sent to the Council to remove the market located there?” he asked. “Our inability to finish the road is due to that market not being removed.”

Dr Muththalib added that despite securing financing and contracting a party to develop a new market, the ministry had not received cooperation from the council to hand over the site.

The minister also questioned the effectiveness of local councils more broadly, particularly in relation to the use of state funding. He noted that the government often has to intervene when roads are damaged or flooding occurs in Malé.

“Whether a road is damaged or any work needs to be done on a street, it is the State that has to do it,” he said. “What, then, is the benefit of the State providing hundreds of millions of rufiyaa to the Council as block grants?”

Dr Muththalib further criticised the Addu City Council over the deteriorating condition of the Addu Link Road. Responding to a question from Maradhoo MP Ahmed Didi, he emphasised that road maintenance falls under the responsibility of local councils rather than the ministry.

“When hundreds of millions of rufiyaa are provided to the Addu City Council from the state budget, if they lack a mechanism to fix potholes in the road, I believe the Council has failed,” he said.

The Addu Link Road, developed more than two decades ago, has fallen into disrepair in recent years. The project to redevelop the road, valued at MVR 830 million, was handed over to the Road Development Corporation in April 2025 and is projected to be completed within three years and nine months.

Although the project was officially inaugurated by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu during a visit to Addu City last November, construction work has yet to begin.

Dr Muththalib said delays were due to the time required to import specialised machinery, but confirmed that the equipment has now arrived and work is expected to commence once it is transported to Addu.

He described the Link Road project as one of the government’s key priorities in the southern city and reiterated the need for stronger cooperation between central government and local councils to ensure timely implementation of development projects.