Govt says to hire foreign experts to solve congestion
The minister said a comprehensive audit should be conducted to understand the problem as a large number of vehicles are being registered in Maldives.
By
Shahudha Mohamed
Foreign experts are being sought to solve the traffic problem in Male, Transport Minister Mohammed Ameen said on Wednesday.
The Minister was speaking at a press conference on Wednesday to brief the media on the work done by the Ministry of Transport in the past 40 days since President Mohammed Muizzu took over the government.
In order to solve the problem of traffic in Maldives, especially in the Male area, both short-term and long-term solutions should be identified, he said.
The minister said a comprehensive audit should be conducted to understand the problem as a large number of vehicles are being registered in Maldives. The government has decided to seek the assistance of foreign experts, he said.
The minister said the government is doing the following to find a solution to the traffic problem:
-
Develop a tactical plan to identify an immediate solution to the traffic problem in the city
-
Therefore, with foreign financial assistance, especially to solve the traffic problem in the Male area, professional expertise will be signed up on Thursday
-
The recommendations from the experts will be submitted to the Cabinet and if the law needs to be changed, it will be submitted to Parliament
-
The Foreign Ministry has also been formally asked to bring in experts from countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or Singapore that has solved traffic problems to identify the problems in Maldives and seek recommendations to solve the problem
-
President Muizzu is giving special priority to start the construction of the parking buildings as soon as possible
'Vehicle registration should be limited’
The traffic problem in the city has worsened because a large number of vehicles have been registered in the city without much consideration, the minister said.
“I think all of you will agree that we need to make some changes to the number of vehicles, whether four-wheelers or two-wheelers, that are currently being registered in the Male area,” he said.
According to Ameen, as per statistics:
-
69,080 vehicles have been registered in Maldives in the past five years
-
More than 42,000 of these vehicles are registered in the Male area
“You know, at this scale, if this trend continues like this, we are not going to be able to contain the city area,” the minister said, noting that registering so many vehicles in one area is a grievous issue. He said he did not believe that such a large number of vehicles would have been registered if the vehicle registration had been done in good faith.
Therefore, the minister said that although the law has not been changed, the registration of vehicles has been delayed under some of the powers given to the ministry.
