Parliament bins bill to force land handover after presidential veto
Some members pointed out that the land was allotted in such a manner that it did not even meet the legal requirements.
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The new parliament rejected the amendment to the Land Act on Tuesday, which President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu had sent back without ratification.
According to the amendment to the Land Act passed by South Galolhu MP Meekail Ahmed Naseem at the end of the last parliament:
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The registry must be handed over to the recipients within three months of the government gazetting the list of land recipients
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The purpose of the amendment is to force the government to give land according to the list of those who received land under the Binnveriya scheme during the MDP government
When the bill was sent for ratification, President Muizzu sent it back to parliament asking the parliament to reconsider it.
The matter was put on the agenda, debated, and put to vote in the Parliament on Tuesday. Thus:
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MDP members moved that the bill be referred to the committee for reconsideration; the motion was not passed; 75 votes against and 12 in favour
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When the motion was not passed the Speaker then called to pass the bill as it stood; however, as 76 members voted against the bill, the Speaker declared that the bill was rejected from the Parliament
The ruling PNC members said on Tuesday that the previous government had introduced the bill with bad intentions and purpose. The government is now considering proposing a new land law that will solve these problems, the members said. The members also mentioned:
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The MDP government's decision to give land to the people of Male from Hulhumale, Giraavaru and Gulhi lagoons was a project launched to garner support and votes ahead of the presidential election
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Some members pointed out that the land was allotted in such a manner that it did not even meet the legal requirements
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Some members pointed out that giving land completely free of cost to some from the country's most expensive island, the capital city, should not be allowed while others had to buy land at very high costs
Meekail, who moved the amendment, said President Muizzu had pledged to give the plots as had been decided by the previous government during the presidential and parliamentary election campaigns. Meekail expressed concern that things were getting delayed without keeping that promise.
