The government has transferred the management of municipal functions of Hulhumalé from Urbanco to Malé City Council.
The decision was made during a Cabinet meeting held on Sunday and was announced by President Mohamed Muizzu in a social media post.
Today, in the cabinet, we have decided to change municipal services of Hulhumalé to Malé City Council, as clearly mentioned in the Law, the process starting from 1st Jan 2024. The transfer process of office, machineries, equipments, municipal land, staff etc [from Urbanco to Malé City Council] are to be completed within 1 month. All staff will continue to receive the same remuneration as they are currently receiving for 1 year. Details will be announced soon. This is a pledge I made during the election.
President Mohamed Muizzu explaining the transfer of municipal functions from Urbanco to Malé City Council in a post to social media.
Even though Hulhumalé is part of the city of Malé, it has, until now, been managed by the various iterations of Urbanco, a fully state-owned enterprise (SOE). The city council had previously made efforts to transfer the management of Hulhumalé to the council, however, the former administration decided to leave the district under Urbanco’s management, as had previously been done.
In December 2021, the city council annulled the registrations of all land under Urbanco. However, with the matter was then taken to court where the annulment was effectively reversed.
The transfer of municipal services in Hulhumalé, from Urbanco to Malé City Council was one of President Muizzu’s campaign pledges; one that he committed to fulfilling within his first 100 days in office.
