President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that the government will support councils to sustain their administrative divisions. He made the statement while chairing the third session of ‘Viavathi Raajje’ conference on its second day.
The second day of ‘Viavathi Raajje’ deliberations started with the unveiling of “isles” website - a web interface showing infographics, updates and detailed information of all developmental projects undertaken across the island nation.
Speaking at the conference, President Solih revealed that the next step is to ensure the sustainability of empowered administrative divisions by supporting the councils to secure income sources and continuous funding mechanisms for development projects.
Day two at ‘Viavathi Raajje’ conference was initiated with a presentation on communities by the Speaker of the Parliament and former President, Mohamed Nasheed. The presentation focussed on how to sustain and develop a model Maldivian island with emphasis on how to disburse funds, manage additional responsibilities and utilizing council powers in an accountable manner.
In addition to President Solih and Speaker Nasheed, the Minister of Tourism, Ali Waheed, Minister of Economic Development, Fayyaz Ismail and the Minister of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture, Zaha Waheed, were among the panellists at today’s initial session. A question and answer session was held for the topic ‘increasing economic welfare amongst island communities’ allowing participants to query panellists.
The second topic of the third session focussed on the role of councils leading way for ‘Jazeera Dhiriulhun'. This included presentations and discussions on proper waste management and deliberations on how to counter extremism, with the Minister of Defense, Mariya Ahmed Didi, Minister of Home Affairs, Imran Abdulla, Chief of the Defense Force, Major General Abdulla Shamaal and the Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Hameed, joining as panellists.
