The People’s Majlis has accepted an emergency motion seeking to bring the issue of individuals stranded in the Greater Malé Region due to repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, to the government’s attention.

The motion was submitted by MP for Maduvvari constituency, Adam Shareef Umar during Wednesday’s online sitting.

66 members that took part in the vote unanimously approved the motion for debate.

Ever since the emergence of the first community transmission in the Maldives capital on 15 April, the region has been locked down, which has caused several island residents who had visited the capital for various reasons, to get stranded in the capital.

As part of the measures that came under the lockdown, the government also banned all vessels docked in the capital city from departing to other islands. Some island residents had been temporarily residing at guest houses and apartments for rent when the lockdown was declared.

Many island resident are stuck in the capital due to this, some without shelter.

As such, the motion seeks to question the government on how they plan to resolve this issue.

This comes at a time the government has been providing temporary shelter for the homeless individuals in the region, as well as the individuals who were removed from their residences due to failure in paying rent, which is one of the major repercussions of the pandemic as several individuals have either been sacked or put on no-pay leave.

The government has urged the citizens to refrain from this act, described by most as inhumane and is working with relevant authorities to provide a solution for this issue.

According to the MP, this issue must be highly prioritized by the parliament.