Male’ City Council has begun renovating mosques using funds raised from the ‘Chaalu Miskiy’ fundraiser.
The ‘Chaalu Miskiy’ fundraiser, held last weekend, collected over MVR 700,000.
Funds raised during the event are being used to renovate Masjid al-Ta’aawun (Aa Sahara Mosque).
The city council conducted work on replacing the roof of the mosque’s porch, sealing the cracks on the walls, repainting the walls, and retiling the area in front of the rest rooms.
Though the fundraiser has closed, city council states that people can continue to donate money and equipment for renovation of mosques.
The city council said they decided to hold the fundraiser because they were mandated the work of renovating mosques without being provided a sufficient budget.
According to Male’ City Mayor Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, the government allocated a budget of MVR 1 million for the renovation of mosques in 2021 and 2022.
He said the city council spent an additional MVR 10 million from its own revenue for the work.
“Despite renovations of MVR 10 million from the council’s revenue budget, some mosques remain unrenovated. We estimate it will cost MVR 9 million to renovate the mosques,” he said.
The city council is required to repair and renovate mosques in the greater Male’ area under the Decentralization Act. The council currently manages 34 mosques in Male’ City, Hulhumale’, and Vilimale’.