Fuvahmulah City Mayor Abdullah Falaah Shareef has said that the citizens of the newly created city were under considerable confusion as the Government had decreed the city status, without a vision or a plan for the new city.

He made the statement in RaajjeTV’s Fala Suruhee program on Saturday.

In his interview, Falaah said the Government remained unaware of the hopes and aspirations of Fuvahmulah citizens. The city status, he said, was accorded without even trying to understand this aspect.

Noting that an urgent solution must be found for the island’s erosion issue, Falaah added that citizens of the City wished to see the island thrive on a sustainable income from local tourism.

He further noted that due to changes made to the Decentralization Act, the newly created City faced immense issues in carrying out day to day development projects. He added there was no direction or targets given to the Council following the change to a City. Falaah said the Council had no inclination of where their powers, responsibilities or which Government agencies they have to collaborate on and on which levels. As of now, Falaah said the Council is only maintaining the database of births and deaths.

These issues, he said, had been raised with the relevant authorities.

Once Fuvahmulah was decreed City status, the Council had requested the Government to issue a systematic organization. However, as this remained stalled, Falaah said the employment status of 80 employees of the Council remains in question.