All members of Dhuvaafaru Council suspended

All members of R. Dhuvaafaru Council have been suspended as authorities’ probe corruption allegations.

The decision to suspend all council members was taken during Sunday’s convening of the Local Government Authority (LGA).

Council members have been prohibited from representing the council in anyway, during the course of their suspension.

Dhuvaafaru Council’s Secretary General Mohamed Nasih has been designated to oversee the council temporarily.

At present, Dhuvaafaru Council comprises of six councilors. Councilor Ahmed Samooh had resigned earlier. Consequently, the by-election for his seat is scheduled for December 24.

A special monitoring report compiled by LGA showed that over MVR 2 million were transferred from the personal accounts of some of the council members, Women's Development Committee (WDC) members, and other employees from the council budget.

In addition to this, without any documentation, large sums of money were given in cash to employees as well.

The report stated that Dhuvaafaru Council was not acting in accordance with any of the laws dictated by the Decentralization Act and other regulations set through it by LGA, the Finance Act of Maldives, or other laws and regulations related to finances.

It also noted that the councilors failed to keep up with their responsibilities, and keep proper documentation as legally mandated.