The community engagement officers will be monitoring the streets in designated uniforms, and the monitoring sessions will be conducted in two shifts.
Mayor Dr. Muizz
Male' City, the vibrant capital of the Maldives, is known for its scenic beauty, bustling streets, and thriving urban life. However, beneath its surface lies a pressing issue that has plagued its residents for years: the deteriorating state of the city's road infrastructure. From potholes to clogged drainage systems, road-related problems in Male' City have become a significant concern for those living in the Greater Male' Area.
While there is an abundance of issues that need to be addressed in the Male’ City roads, two of the biggest concerns have been the pothole issues as well as the congested drainage system. With the roads getting flooded following every rainfall season and potholes causing damage to people’s vehicles as well as becoming a concern for the safety of drivers.
And while these might be the two major concerns that the roads face, with a large number of smaller underlying issues, the City Council has been putting in some effort towards a road development project in recent years.
In order to bring about some positive changes to the roads of the City, the Road Development Corporation (RDC) was contracted to develop 15 different roads in the city on October 11, 2021. By the end of 2021, the design for the project was close to completion and on a larger scale, the Male’ City Council hoped to develop 105 roads within two years.
Finally, in 2022, the project took off, with bigger roads such as Ameenee Magu now being developed and the City Council also addressing smaller issues such as the pothole issues in the City as well.
And now, on top of putting in these efforts towards developing the roads in Male’ City, the City Council has also announced their plans to deploy 80 community engagement officers to monitor the roads of Male’ City. With the officers to be deployed on the 15th of May 2023, the City Council Mayor has stated that the council hopes to take some crucial steps towards solving municipal issues such as waste, unlawful use of pavements as well as parking areas and ensuring the safety of construction sites by removing objects or practices that may endanger the public.
With a lot of these concerns being some of the biggest issues that Maldivians face when it comes to the Male’ City roads, the community engagement officers are sure to have their work cut out for them as these issues are raised by the public on media platforms on a day to day basis.
These community engagement officers will be monitoring the streets in designated uniforms, and the monitoring sessions will be conducted in two shifts. With the officers being active all hours except 12:00 am to 8:00 am, the City Council has also stated that after a collaborative effort with the public to rectify issues, the patrol officers will be imposing fines if issues are not rectified within a given timeframe.
