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Committee proposes 58 amendments to Decentralisation Act

Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Decentralisation Ali Niyaz has said parliamentarians have proposed 58 amendments to the Decentralisation Act.

The committee is currently evaluating the proposed amendments by the government and the committee is bringing necessary changes to the proposals, according to Ali Niyaz. He further said the changes were mainly proposed by the parliamentary group of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) which generally focuses on empowering the councils more by removing obstacles in exercising their powers.

The committee expects to hold discussions with the stakeholders this week regarding government propositions to the act. Highlighting the aim is to approve the amendments by November 14, Niyaz said the committee had not revised the funding the government has allocated to councils from the State Budget.

The postposed amendments are expected to empower the councils more in order to facilitate better service and management. One of the significant changes include providing the councils with a share from the State Budget.

Next year, the government will provide locals councils a budget of over USD 103 million.