Parliament rejects MNP’s bill on land use plan

Parliament, on Monday, has rejected bill proposing amendments to Dcentralization Act in order to mandate the approval of land use plans of islands by the national institute within a maximum duration of 60 days.

In the vote taken at today’s parliamentary sitting on whether to accept or reject the bill proposed by Maldives National Party’s (MNP) Leader, Dhangethi MP Mohamed Nazim – the bill was rejected by the votes of 32 parliamentarians. Meanwhile, one member voted to accept bill, whilst one member voted neither to accept nor reject the bill.

As per the bill, if the national institute believes that a certain sections of the land use plan needs to amended – this should be communicated with the island council. After the amendments are made, the land use plan must be approved within a 60 days period.

If the institute has not informed the approval of the land use plan within this timeframe – the bill states that the land use plan should be considered approved then.

MP Nazim said that the bill was submitted to ease the use of land within atolls under the decentralized governing system. Debating on the bill, parliamentarians of ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said that the proposed amendments will not address the issue.