Permits to allow people to go out for specific areas to be issued

Maldives Police Service has said that it is working to allow people to go out for basic necessities and services to a specific area of the city during the lockdown period in the country.

A special permit is required for this, which will be issued by the Police after an application form is completed, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdulla Fairoosh in a press conference underway right now. The permit will allow the person to go out to a specific location and return back home. 

The Assistant Commissioner said that approval will be required through the web portal of Police before the individual is allowed to go out.

A text message received on the mobile device of the individual will read where the individual is allowed to go and the time limit for the outing. Fairoosh said that the text message is to be shown to officers if the individual is stopped by officers on duty on the streets at the time.

“The basis of our thought is that a level of control needs to be imposed on public outings. So, we are going to allow an hour every two days to perform necessary tasks.” said the Assistant Commissioner.

He added that the move will allow conveniences for the Police to monitor the streets and reduce the number of people on the road. Male’ City has been distributed to 26 areas after considering the population of each area and the number of shops in the area.

The changes in policy will also take into consideration the duty hours of people who will be allowed to attend work after being approved by the Police.

“Some difficulties will be faced. Our aim is to reduce the number of people on the streets and only allow people to go out for necessary tasks.” said the Assistant Commissioner.