Malé City Council (MCC) has said that attempts by the Housing Ministry to evict it from offices in the Huravee Building would affect public services.
Speaking at a press conference today, MCC Mayor Ali Manik said: “We are running a small government here. We oversee the pre-schools, look after the primary health care in all districts of Male’. We provide registrations to local businesses. These services will be obstructed because of the Housing Ministry’s actions”.
The eviction notice has come amidst an escalating dispute between the MCC and the Ministry of Housing and Environment this week.
The Housing Ministry yesterday informed the MCC that the council had until 3:00pm on Thursday to vacate its offices. This led to police today attempting to prevent council members from entering their offices in the Huravee building.
Councillor Mohamed Abdul Kareem claimed that it took two hours for MCC employees to be allowed access to the building this morning due to the police’s “interfering”. He also complained that the MCC was not being allowed to take anything in or out of the building.
Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef said that police were checking to ensure the building remained secure after receiving a complaint from the Housing Ministry that property was being removed from the building.
Minister for Housing and Environment Dr Mohamed Muiz had previously told local newspaper Haveeru that the council had been asked to vacate the offices in order to accommodate two new government ministries.
A similar dispute between the municipal council and the Housing Ministry took place this week concerning control of the Dharubaaruge conference centre and the Usfasgandu area. The MCC has leased the Usfasgandu area to the MDP for use in serial protests calling for early elections.
“If we play this around politically, only the people will suffer,” Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) council member Ibrahim Shujau said, agreeing with the Mayor.
The damage that the political dispute could have on the people of the capital was made clear by Councillor Mohamed Abdul Kareem : “They are not disturbing the MCC, they are not disturbing the Maldivian Democratic Party, they are disturbing the citizens of Malé.”
Local media this week reported Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muiz as claiming that the MCC would be able to move their Huravee operation to Male’ City Hall.
However, Kareem told Minivan News that the move “is not possible. The place is congested here [at the City Hall] already.”
“If we vacate [Huravee], services will be stopped,” he said.
Kareem added that the council therefore wished to cooperate with the government in finding a solution. He claimed the MCC had not yet received any invitation for a discussion.
Shujau added that the Housing Ministry’s actions suggested they were “not willing to negotiate”. The DRP councillor claimed that the Housing Ministry wished to “overrule the Decentralisation Act” by preventing the council from providing services stipulated in the act.
Earlier in the week, the Housing Ministry informed the MCC that staff working at the Dharubaaruge conference centre were to be transferred to its department. The MCC subsequently locked the facility and sent staff members home.
Housing Minister Dr Muiz declared the act “unlawful”. Consequently, police arrived on the scene to re-open the building. Today a solitary policeman kept watch at the front of the building.
A member of the office staff on duty at Dharubaaruge today, who wished to remain anonymous, said that she was an MCC employee who had been drafted in to ensure services were maintained. She declined to comment further on the site’s staff situation.
The MCC has also announced its intention to challenge the legality of the Ministry’s letter giving notice of the staff changes.
When asked whether the dispute was expected to have any negative impacts on the provision of public services by the council, Chairman of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Hassan Fahmy said that both the Ministry of Housing and the MCC had sufficient human resources to maintain services.
Fahmy added that the CSC had tried to talk with both parties to find an “amicable” solution to the Dharubaaruge dispute. However, the body’s chairman said that neither the Ministry of Human Resources or the MCC were willing to give ground. “I think this will have to be settled in the courts,” he added.
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This new "government", (if we can call it that) came into power through a coup, with the so called intentions of protecting the Constitution, Islam and the people of Maldives. Yet, they are doing so many things to make life difficult for MDP, without bothering about the repercussions of their action on the people of this Country and without bothering that they are being unislamic and very unconstitutional. Actions always speak louder than words!
It is fun to see these political games. Whichever dept has the bigger stick is the boss.
mariyam, i did not know that to become a Maldivian and citizen of Maldives, i need to be a member of MDP.
Thank you for sharing this information and I will immediately fill the application form to become MDP member.
I hope and pray that we have elections soon. We cannot regress again.....we need a government that has been elected by the people not a coup! What good is it doing the people to dissolve all the institutions that were initiated to help them? The Province Offices are now closed, the Male' City Council is at threat from these traitors....do they think it's helping the country when they do that?
The Lovely Maldives is becoming a train wreck.
(Or a dhonie Wreck !!)
Elections are a disruption to public order. Our electorate must be garrotted on the spot and those remaining must be made virtuous.
For what ever reason it may be, when Nasheed' government locked a court it is breach of law! And the government needed to resign immediately!!!!! Now, what the hell is this?????
The City Council is an elected body of people by the citizens of Male' for their benefit and well being! Just like the People's Majlis. And there can be no way a Ministry can kill the will and wish of the people just like this!!!!!
This Ministry if it has the capacity to call the City Council to evict the office it is occupying, it has to give sufficient time for the Council to find space, transfer and get settled down! More over, the Minister in charge of a Ministry is not and endorsed person by the peoples and therefore has no ground to rule over an elected body by the people of this City!!!!!
Last week, this same Ministry was seen pestering and loitering around the "Dharubaaruge" in this same manner with the "breaded dogs" around to give additional strength and to instil fear into the people!
It cannot be fun to watch "political games" being played by kids anymore! There has to be a limit and in his first "utterance", Waheed had told the people that he will do nothing against the law and he will rule by the rule of law (Oops! this was not him!!!! One of his Ministries and therefore he cannot be held responsible and he would not be aware of it !!!!!!
The poor bugger does not know when he is pushed and shoved by Gayyom in the morning, Yaameen and Gasim during working hours, the hypocrite 23 DECEMBER Sheikhs in afternoon, Hassan Saeed in the evening and finally Thasmeen at night!!!!
what we have in male' council is no council at all. its more like circus. they already have a big building but want to keep their presence everywhere even when govt changes. they shall actually be evicted and a lil bit unceremoniously too.
This illegal regime only want to help the rich and lie to the rest of us, and the world.