‘Like flashing lights’: Emergency motion over frequent power outages in Addu

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has submitted an emergency motion to the Parliament over frequent power outages in Addu, which the party said is disrupting the life of the people who reside in the interlinked islands of the city.

The motion was presented on Wednesday morning by Ibrahim Nazil, the parliamentary representative for South Hithadhoo constituency, and the leader of MDP’s parliamentary group.

The motion was accepted for consideration with a vote of 57-0.

In his motion, Nazil likened the frequent power outages in Addu, the country’s second most populous city, to “flashing lights.” He said that it was disrupting the lives of the people of Addu, and hindering the provision of services by offices and institutions.

He accused the government of failure to properly address the issue.

During the debate on the motion, Nazil said that power outages left some 30,000 residents “in the dark” over the last three days. He alleged that the administration failed to send “even a single screw” to fix the issue in its seven months in office.

Highlighting on the power outage in M. Muli six months back, Nazil said Addu isn’t alone in facing power outages.

“This tarnishes President [Dr. Mohamed] Muizzu’s reputation. Schools are shut down; people are forced to lie awake at night. When the electricity goes out, so does the water,” he said.

Ibrahim Falah, the leader of the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) and parliamentary representative for Inguraidhoo constituency, said that the issue is also of concern to PNC. He said the government is engaged in efforts to resolve the issue.

He proposed allowing all parliamentarians who wish to speak on the subject the opportunity to join the debate.

The proposal was seconded by Central Hithadhoo MP Ahmed Azan, a PNC lawmaker, who said the issue wasn’t recent, but something the people had been facing since 2019, during the previous MDP administration.

“This resulted from damage to cables amid the redevelopment of roads. This is not necessarily a result of an issue with generators the last few days. It is regrettable to make comments that mislead the public regarding such issues. The people are living in difficult conditions. However, President Muizzu has promised an effective issue to this issue,” he said.

An issue with power cables resulted in power outages in Addu again on Tuesday. Ahmed Saeed, a councilman from Addu, told Sun that the city’s power consumption is beyond the capacity of its generators, resulting in hourly outages.