Nearly 30 stalls closed down at the local market

Wednesday saw the closure of nearly 30 stalls being used in the local market in the capital Malé city.

Speaking to Sun, the member for the Maafannu constituency of the Malé city council, Mr Mohamed Fazeen stated that the closure was a result of the illegally employed foreigners at the market. There were also cases of overdue payments to MIRA and issues of expired agreements that brought about the closures, according to Mr Fazeen.

Speaking further, he stated that the council was still monitoring the market squares and predicted the closure of a further 50-60 squares. Renovation and expansion plans for the area as well proposed plans for increasing the allotted square sizes to eight or nine feet were also divulged by Mr Fazeen as well as improvements to policies that focus more on Maldivian employment and restrictions on how foreigners will be employed at the allotted slots.

The current policy under use at the local market has seen the allotted owners of the squares renting out the spaces to others which in turn has resulted in price fluctuations of the products being sold at the market as well.