Major changes expected to Malé roads in the near future: Mayor

Major changes will be brought to Malé City roads in the coming days, says Mayor Shifa Mohamed.

Speaking to RaajjeMV, Mayor Shifa stated that developing Malé into a serene city is one of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s pledges and that the city council is working to give the city’s interior a complete make over after looking into complaints and recommendations from the people.

A special project was compiled and forwarded to the last meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers after discussions with between the city council and parliamentarians representing the city as well as telecommunications providers, government institutions and several state companies.

Highlighting that Malé has been prove to heavy flooding due to rains for a long time, Shifa expressed hope that the finished project will provide a positive solution to the issues. The project includes the neighborhood roads as well as alleys in the capital, said Shifa.

Currently, work has begun in two regions and the project will commence from bigger roads.

The government is observably working to initiate several projects to resolve congestion in the city, with relevant authorities giving assurance that public transport changes will play a major role in the efforts to make the city less congested.

Further details of the road development project will be publicized after close discussions are held with the people, said Shifa.

This comes at a time the Minister of National Planning and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam had stressed on the importance of a road development initiative in the capital. Speaking at the Parliament Committee on National Development and Heritage earlier in October, Aslam stated that a development project is required to be planned through in a way that doesn’t require authorities to constantly dig up the roads.

He assured the city council that the ministry will give its full cooperation in its work.

The ministry plans to develop the roads in a manner that doesn’t require authorities to constantly keep digging them up, while keeping changes to parking in mind as well as leveling the roads and burying additional pipes underground.

The city is prone to heavy flooding even with the slightest amount of rain, sometimes with calf-deep flooding and water entering homes as almost all residences in Malé are level with the roads.