Council, STELCO at loggerheads again over land allocation
Male city mayor said STELCO wanted the lands to be registered to its name.
By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
Male City Council has denied STELCO’s claim that it is not providing land to install transformers in three areas of the city.
Lately, the Male City Council and STELCO have been at loggerheads with each other over various issues and the two institutions are again exchanging heated words. Thus:
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Male City Council has not paid MVR 21 million due to STELCO, so the utility company had cut off power from some of the council’s offices; the council says it has not paid MVR 16.9 million till December
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The council says STELCO has not paid MVR 68 million as land rent to the council; but STELCO claims to have paid the rent and shared MIRA letter with the media
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STELCO has filed a petition in the court seeking quashing of the civic body's policy of charging ‘exorbitant’ fees for the tilling of the city's road
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Now the controversy is over the council's refusal to allot land to STELCO for installing transformers
STELCO had on Friday issued a statement expressing concern over the council not providing land for installing transformers to deal with the possibility of power cuts in three areas of the city. The statement said:
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Several requests have been made to the civic body to allot the land
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The three substations are Gaakoshi, SinaMale 2 plots, adjacent to the parking zone opposite Majeedhiyya School, and the substation in the parking zone adjacent to the traders' mosque
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On May 2, 2021, a request was made to the council for land to install an additional transformer in the substation inside the SinaMale 2 plot
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On September 13, 2021, the company sought land for expansion of the sub-station in the parking zone adjacent to the traders' mosque; the letter also went unanswered
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On May 23, 2021, a request was made to allot vacant land from the substation in the parking zone in front of Majeedhiyya School; there was no response
"People living in these areas are likely to face problems like power cuts in the coming days and drawings of the land required to install these transformers have been shared. Since the coming days are going to be hot and these transformers may overload and power outages during the fasting month could occur, the company wants these land issues resolved and install these transformers as soon as possible," STELCO said in a statement.
Refuting STELCO’s claims, city mayor Mohamed Muizzu told the council's media group on Friday night that the company has been informed that land had been allotted them from the three areas.
He said STELCO wanted the lands to be registered to its name. The mayor added that it can only happen after STELCO meets all requirements of the procedure.
"STELCO will already have sub-stations in many parts of the city. Some of the structures were even made into two storeys. None of these plots were registered with STELCO. The land can be registered only after following the procedures in this regard," Muizzu said.
