Quick reform of NDA needed, delays reflect grave national loss: Speaker

Speaker of Parliament and Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said that delays in reforming the National Drug Agency (NDA) represent a great loss to the Maldives as a nation.

NDA, tasked with overseeing and contributing to efforts made to rehabilitate those suffering from drug addiction, has come under extensive public and government scrutiny for failing to fulfil their mandate over the last nine years. Speaker Nasheed declared in a Tweet on Sunday morning that there was no doubt that swift reform was needed within the NDA, and said that any delays in doing so represented a grave loss to the Maldives as a nation.

Many people have raised concerns regarding the irresponsibility of NDA in recent months, with some protesting in front of the NDA building in Male' City following their inability to provide services for and accommodate those suffering from addiction in the Maldives.

The hashtag "BanNDA" was also being used by citizens on social media to highlight the failings of NDA and demand reform from related authorities.

The main concern raised by those who protested NDA's negligence over the past nine years was that of the framework in place being insufficient to cater to the treatment and rehabilitation needs of recovering addicts.

While concerns mount over NDA's ineffectiveness, Mohamed Habeeb was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer for the agency after a vacancy was announced for the position on 18 January 2021.

Habeeb was appointed to the position following Hassan Shaheem's resignation from the post of CEO in September last year.