As the Malé City Council was preparing to begin distributing cases of canned tuna that the government had decided to give out for free for the upcoming fasting month of Ramadan in the Greater Malé Region, the government has prohibited the council from distributing the cases of canned tuna.

The Malé City Council said that the government took this action at the very last moment, even after all the final preparations for distributing the canned tuna cases had been completed.

The City Council stated that they had made extensive preparations for distributing the canned tuna in both Malé and Hulhumalé, and that the Mayor of Malé City Council, Adam Azim, had also personally inspected the preparations at the locations where the canned tuna was to be distributed.

They also mentioned that they had even posted a tweet with the times and locations for the distribution of the canned tuna, and that the tweet clearly indicated that these were canned tuna cases being distributed to the public by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu for the upcoming fasting month.

The City Council said that everything was going very smoothly as planned until the very last moment of the night, but suddenly they received a call informing them that the canned tuna cases would be distributed by the State Trading Organization (STO) as per the government's instructions.

The City Council also stated that the government's action of changing the previously planned distribution method and time for the canned tuna cases at the last minute is a great inconvenience caused to the public.

The distribution of canned tuna cases to the residents of the Malé area was supposed to be carried out jointly by the Malé City Council, Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), and STO. However, they were instructed on Thursday morning not to distribute the canned tuna cases from any of the City Council's locations.

The City Council expressed that this action by the government is very concerning and that it is a major inconvenience caused to the public by the government.

The distribution of canned tuna cases to the residents of the Malé area was originally announced to begin at 2:30pm on Thursday by the Malé City Council. However, this was suddenly changed, and the starting time for the distribution of canned tuna cases was later pushed back to 8:30pm.

STO stated that the distribution of canned tuna cases took place from 8pm to 11pm on Thursday.

Each household would receive a case of 48 canned tuna. The canned tuna is being distributed based on electricity meter numbers. Approximately over 80,000 households across the Maldives will receive canned tuna.

The locations set for the distribution of canned tuna are the MIFCO office compound, MTCC Sawmill in Henveiru-ward of the capital city, Vilimalé, WAMCO site, and in Hulhumalé, the Umar Zahir Building, as well as Hiyaa Tower 10 and the Youth Center.

While the distribution of canned tuna proceeded on Thursday night, the process was halted for Friday. The next distribution will be on Saturday from 10am to 4pm, and from 8:30pm to 11pm.

From Sunday to Thursday, canned tuna will be distributed from 2:30pm to 6pm and from 8:30pm to 11pm.

STO said that if canned tuna cases are to be distributed from additional areas, they will continue to announce such information.

The decision to provide a case of canned tuna to every household in the Maldives, especially for the month of Ramadan, was made by the president.