Parliament on Sunday held the first readings of amendments to the Land Act, adding a provision expediting the handover of land to beneficiaries of the Ibrahim Mohamed Solih administration’s Binveriya scheme, and to the General Elections Act, enabling changes to parliamentary election dates.
Meekail Ahmed Naseem, Member of Parliament (MP) for South Galolhu, proposed the amendment to the Land Act to address the concerns of Binveriya scheme beneficiaries. The amendment to the General Elections Act was proposed by Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Shifau.
According to Naseem, the amendment to the Land Act seeks to impose a legal solution to the housing problem in Malé as the land allocated under the Binveriya scheme has still not been allocated by the current Mohamed Muizzu administration.
“After the land allocation agencies have identified the recipients of the land, they should be required to hand over the land and the land registry as soon as possible,” Naseem said explaining his proposed amendment.
The amendment to the General Elections Act was proposed to allow for changes to the date scheduled for the parliamentary elections as the date announced by the Elections Commission (EC) coincides with the month of Ramadan.
“The difficulties around the parliamentary elections coinciding with the month of Ramadan must be addressed and because of how the current law is implemented we need to [also] address the worrying number of invalidated votes in elections,” Shifau said, explaining his reasons for the proposed amendment.