Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Thinadhoo suspended without pay; entire council penalized

The Local Government Authority (LGA) has decided to suspend Mayor Saud Ali and Deputy Mayor Nasrullah Ali of Thinadhoo City, and take action against the island’s councilors.

LGA made the decision following an inquiry into complaints submitted to the authority regarding the council.

According to the authority, the action was taken because the mayor failed to fulfill his responsibility of ensuring that the council is run in accordance with laws and regulations.

LGA asserted that they had taken statements from council members and staff, and analyzed documents during the inquiry.

LGA went on to reveal that after the inquiry, the council was given seven days to respond. The council had responded to the matter as well.

Thinadhoo City Council Mayor Saud Ali has been suspended for a period of three months. Deputy Mayor Nasrullah Ali has been suspended for a period of one month.

LGA stated that the Thinadhoo City Council has failed to fulfill its duties. They also mentioned that members of the public have filed complaints with various state institutions, alleging that the mayor and members have misused the council's powers and resources and acted against council standards.

Further, LGA highlighted that their inquiry was based on a total of 19 issues. These included complaints submitted to the authority and matters reported to government institutions.

Among the 19 issues included in the LGA inquiry included failure to respond to letters sent by state institutions to Thinadhoo City Council, charging a fee of MVR 5,000 for changing residency and not complying with LGA's instruction to stop charging the fee, not sending information requested by the atoll council and other government agencies.

In addition to this, LGA noted issues such as not complying with atoll council directives, paying allowances to the council's bid committee and bid evaluation committee without approval from the Ministry of Finance and Planning, not cooperating with investigations conducted by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and posting content that devalues the council and the decentralization system on official social media accounts.

Further, LGA highlighted that the council had opened applications for 200 housing units to be built in Thinadhoo under the government's housing project without consulting the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure, and did not comply when the ministry instructed them not to proceed.

The authority also stated that when a group of citizens requested to meet the mayor regarding the lack of well water in the flats allocated in Thinadhoo, the meeting was not granted.

In addition to this, LGA asserted that although Thinadhoo was given city status and a city council was not established, the council president and members took salaries and benefits of a city council mayor and members.

When RaajjeMV contacted the city’s mayor for a comment, he stressed that this was a deliberate attempt by some individuals to discredit him. He also noted that these were measures taken based on stories without any truth or basis.

In addition to suspending the mayor and deputy mayor, council members Ahmed Waheed, Aminath Naseema, Ahmeema Ahmed, and Mohamed Zaleef Abdulla were given warnings.

After investigating the case of Jeeza Hassan, president of the Women's Development Committee (WDC) of the city, LGA also decided to warn her and instruct her to return allowances and money taken against regulations back to the committee.