As part of his pledges for the first 100 days of his administration, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has issued a directive to reassign the powers and responsibilities to be undertaken by city councils. The President’s directive follows on the consensus of the Cabinet.
According to the directive, some responsibilities tasked to city councils include investing in, leasing out or taking ownership of investments made in the lands, reefs and lagoon areas of the city, for the socioeconomic benefit of the community; managing the birth and death registries of the city; gathering and maintaining statistical records as instructed by relevant authorities; maintaining a registry of citizen and non-citizen residing in the city; maintaining a registry of foreigners residing in the city; administering a safe waste disposal mechanism; temporarily or permanently open or close roads, parks or public spaces of the city.
The powers of the City Councils were previously taken over by other government Ministries. The Cabinet made the decision in accordance with the Act on Decentralization of the Administrative Divisions of the Maldives.
