The current administration, contrary to guarantees by President Mohamed Muizzu during his presidential campaign, has decided to charge a fee for the use of the Sinamalé Bridge. The decision was announced as part of the ‘Malé Fahi’ programme, aimed at making the city’s streets safer — the programme was inaugurated on Wednesday night by Muizzu.
During the presidential election campaign, supporters of the Ibrahim Mohamed Solih administration accused the Muizzu camp of planning to charge for the use of the bridge. President Muizzu had, at the time, denied the allegations.
“The news that our [future] administration has decided to charge fees from the people who use the Sinamalé Bridge is absolutely false. Spreading false rumours is irresponsible and uncivilised,” Muizzu had said in a social media post dated 29 August 2023.
It was announced at the Wednesday night ceremony that the necessary studies on the establishment of a toll and enforcement system, after consultation with all relevant state agencies for sustainable maintenance of bridges and highways, will begin in August.
When Muizzu was Housing Minister, during the Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom administration, there had been talks of charging a fee for the bridge. However, with the change in administrations it was left up to the incoming administration to establish a toll mechanism. After taking over, the Solih administration decided not to charge a fee for the use of the bridge.