Kihaadhoo Council President Defends Expensive Overseas Trips by Councilors
President meets with the B. Kihaadhoo Island Council and Women’s Development Committee | Photo: The President’s Office
The President of the Kihaadhoo Council Hussain Shaafiu, has defended local councils against criticism over spending on overseas trips, stating that such visits can provide valuable opportunities to learn from other communities and improve local services.
Speaking during President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s visit to Baa atoll, Shaafiu rejected allegations that councils were engaging in wasteful “experimental trips” abroad. He said that councils should have the opportunity to visit both domestic and international communities to observe different approaches to service delivery, including waste management and measures to enhance public satisfaction. He noted that in the past four years, several councils had visited Kihaadhoo to study local waste management practices.
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Shaafiu described councils as the most transparent and least corrupt state institutions, citing Auditor General’s Office statistics indicating that corruption losses involving councils over the past four years totalled less than MVR 5 million, amounting to just 0.001 percent of the state’s total corruption-related financial losses. He urged the government to strengthen the decentralisation system rather than altering the number of councillors in each administration.
The defence came in response to remarks by Muizzu, who criticised the use of block grants for foreign trips. During his four-day tour of Baa Atoll, Muizzu expressed dissatisfaction with councils spending funds on visits to countries such as the UAE, Turkey, and Thailand, which he said provided no relevant experience for the Maldivian context.
Muizzu highlighted that the Ministry of Finance and Treasury had allocated MVR 2.2 billion in block grants to island councils last year, but MVR 1.4 billion remained unspent by year-end. He stressed that these funds were intended for municipal services and development projects, not for travel unrelated to council duties.
The President called on councillors to utilise the grants responsibly, warning that failing to invest the funds in projects that benefit residents undermines the purpose of decentralisation.
