Public opinion sought for bill regarding councils' power on leasing uninhabited islands

The public’s opinion is being sought for the bill regarding island councils' capacity in leasing uninhabited islands.

According to the Majlis secretariat, the decentralization committee has begun research into the amendment to the Uninhabited Islands Act, for which they are opening up for opinions from the public.

Comments and thoughts can be mailed to the committee or written in correspondence to the Majlis Office before September 1, according to the secretariat.

The bill was sponsored by the MP for Baarah constituency, Ahmed Abdulla. Introducing the bill, he stated that the bill was proposed as it contradicted with the recently amended Decentralization Act. The MP notes that there are 13 clauses that need to be amended.

The amendment is necessary as the Decentralization Act delegates all proceedings related to islands under the legal authority of the councils to the respective councils. The MP further said that with the changes to the act, the councils will have the authority to rent islands for a fee and to separate the islands as they see fit within their jurisdiction. In addition, the amendment allows councils to release islands for rent in accordance to policies to be made by the Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture.

Moreover, these amendments will include how to conduct the release of the island to a third party as well, said the MP.

Some of the MPs who debated on the bill has raised concerns that the ministry has the power to remove an island from the jurisdiction of the councils.

For instance, if the uninhabited island, released for industrial purposes, is of a city or island’s authority, the removal of the uninhabited island from the council’s jurisdiction narrows the powers delegated to the council in the decentralization act, according to the MPs. They note that this is due to the fact that the bill does not include asking for the council’s standpoint when separating the islands.

The purpose of the amendment is to empower local councils to lease uninhabited islands under their jurisdiction.