Minister Announces MVR 85 Million Required for Street Light Repairs

Minister of Cities, Local Government and Public Works Adam Shareef, has announced that repairing street lights across residential islands will require an estimated MVR 85 million.

The minister revealed that discussions between FENAKA Corporation and the Utility Regulatory Authority (URA) highlighted the insufficiency of the extended period granted to local councils for addressing street light issues. The original timeline provided by URA for repairs was deemed inadequate.

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The Ministry of Finance is expected to provide the MVR 85 million funding requested by FENAKA for the repairs. However, further discussions are anticipated, as there is concern that councils might not complete the repairs within the URA’s stipulated timeframe.

Minister Shareef emphasised the importance of these repairs for public safety and acknowledged that the process will require both time and financial resources. He assured that the ministry will continue to support councils until the necessary repairs are completed.

The urgency of the repairs was underscored by a recent tragic incident in Raa Atoll Ungoofaaru, where a young man, Hussain Atheek, died from electrocution. 

The URA noted that the street lights in question were lacking essential safety equipment, such as earth-leak circuit breakers (ELCB) and miniature circuit breakers (MCB), which was confirmed by FENAKA Corporation’s Managing Director, Muaz Mohamed Rasheed.