Malé City Council seeks court order to halt state acquisition of 14 lands

Malé City Council has filed a petition with the Civil Court seeking a temporary order to halt the state's decision to acquire 14 plots of land. The Ministry of Housing announced on the 15th of this month that it had decided to transfer 14 plots of land in the Malé area, including the fish market, Sultan Park, and the carnival area, from the City Council's jurisdiction to state supervision. The City Council decided on the 16th of this month to hold an emergency meeting and take the matter to court. According to the government, the lands were acquired without the City Council's support because the projects could not proceed. Deputy Mayor Meekaile Mohamed Riaz, who presided over the City Council's official public session today, stated that since the change in land ownership is reportedly for implementing development projects, they have requested information departments to share the details. However, he said no relevant information has been received so far. Meekaile noted in letters sent to the departments that while requests were made to provide comments or opinions prior to the change of land ownership, such complaints or opinions should be submitted once the detailed information of the projects planned for those lands is known. "Since the procedures required to be completed in such situations under the laws related to land have not been fully carried out, we have submitted a request to the court today for the issuance of a temporary order," Meekaile said. Amendments to the Local Government Act were implemented starting from last September, allowing the government to take over areas within the jurisdiction of island and city councils for the purpose of implementing development projects.