Council terminates 2 agreements, hands over Malé market land

Malé City Council on Monday decided to terminate two agreements previously signed for the development of the Local Market and Fish Market and hand over the land to the Ministry of Fisheries to proceed with the government's market project.

The Council approved the transfer on the condition that the project is completed within 30 months and the facility is handed back to the Council upon completion.

The decision was taken at an emergency council meeting on Monday, with 11 of the 16 councillors present voting in favour. Five councillors voted against the proposal.

The government signed an agreement on 15 March with Trusteng Maldives Private Limited to develop the Malé Wet Market Complex on the site of the existing Local Market. The contract is valued at MVR 126.3 million.

However, construction has yet to begin because the Council had not handed over the land.

The government has said the delay was caused by the Council's failure to release the plot. The Council, however, maintained that two previous agreements relating to the development of the market remained in force and had to be terminated through the required legal procedures before the land could be transferred.

The Council had also said the Ministry of Construction entered into an agreement with another party before those procedures were completed.

It further said documents required to transfer the land had not been provided and that the ministry had not cooperated with the Council's requests for discussions on the matter.

The Ministry of Construction had previously requested the transfer of the land, while the Ministry of Fisheries recently also wrote to the Council seeking the plot for the project.

Speaking at Monday's meeting, Mayor Adam Azim said the Council was now in a position to release the land after terminating the two previous market development agreements last Wednesday.

Azim said the termination process had taken time because one of the agreements involved a third party. Terminating the agreement without reaching an understanding with that party could have resulted in legal action against the Council, he said.

According to Azim, discussions have since been held with the party over the termination, removing the risk of a dispute preventing the project from proceeding.

The resolution adopted on Monday sets several conditions for transferring the land to the Fisheries Ministry.

Under the resolution, the redevelopment must be completed within 30 months, after which the entire market building must be handed back to Malé City Council.

The Council also stipulated that no part of the 17,558.54-square-foot plot allocated for the project may be transferred to a third party. The agreement for the market project and its architectural drawings must also be provided to the Council.

Construction cannot begin until vendors currently operating at the market have been relocated to temporary stalls.

Five councillors opposed handing over the land at this stage, arguing that the government had yet to provide all documentation relating to the project. They also raised concerns that the Council had not received information on arrangements for vendors who would have to move during construction.

The Council's decision also maintains that management of the market must return to the Council once construction is completed.

The Fisheries Ministry had sought management of the market as part of its request for the land.

However, the Council maintains that the Decentralisation Act assigns responsibility for managing local markets to local councils and that the facility must therefore remain under its jurisdiction after redevelopment.