Work underway to transfer 140 uninhabited islands under local councils: Fisheries Minister
The 140 uninhabited islands will be assigned to the local council according to their jurisdictions
Minister of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture, Zaha Waheed
Work is underway to assign 140 uninhabited islands to the respective local council, says Minister of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture, Zaha Waheed.
The minister made the statement while speaking during the video conference held by the parliament's Economic Affairs Committee on Sunday.
Work is underway to assign 140 uninhabited islands to the respective local council according to their jurisdictions, said Zaha. Highlighting that large size of these islands, the minister stated that the relevant regulations are still being compiled.
She went onto disclose that work is also ongoing to identify more uninhabited islands suitable for agriculture.
The local councils will be in charge of leasing the islands for agricultural purposes; The three-year lease is free of charge.
As such - during a press conference on Saturday - the Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail had also disclosed that 44 islands have been identified by the government for agricultural purposes and that the government intends to buy all agricultural produce under efforts to recover from the economic impact of Covid-19.
