LGA warns Maafushi council for threatening, banning woman from entering the island

The Local Government Authority (LGA) has issued a warning to the Maafushi island council, after the emergence of an issue where a woman was "threatened" and prohibited from entering the island despite having completed the mandatory quarantine period.

In a letter addressed to the individual who submitted the complaint, LGA noted that the Maafushi council has been warned against misconduct and to seek the authority's or the atoll council's opinion if they don' have the facts straight when making a decision.

On Friday, the council president openly "threatened" and prohibited a woman from entering the island, despite her having completed the required quarantine period after returning from neighboring India and even tested negative for Covid-19.

The woman's family cited that she had completed the quarantine period in Madivaru island and was released after her test results came back negative for Covid-19. Highlighting that the woman wanted to come home to her children, her family noted that her test results were forwarded to the council president, Usman Rasheed as well.

The woman got the approval to visit the island, from the Health Protection Agency (HPA), the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) as well as the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) after which she was transferred to the island on an MNDF speedboat.

However, the council president is to have prohibited the speedboat from docking and used "derogatory language" against her, threatening to "break her limbs and throw her into the water" if she attempted to enter the island.

This comes at a time there have been rising concerns over some island councils performing the Director General of Public Health Maimoona Aboobakuru's orders a little too strictly and going against them. Maimoona has since urged councils to adhere to the authorities' orders under the measures taken to contain and control the spread of Covid-19 in the Maldives.