Public upset over palm uprooting by Kanditheemu council for plots

Shaviyani atoll Kanditheemu council on Wednesday has said its efforts of uprooting palm trees to clear the land for plot allocation is proceeding according to land use plan.

The council authority made the statement amid ongoing protests by locals of the island.

The council’s president Ahmed Ahsan, while speaking with ‘Sun’, said the plot allocation initiative is proceeding according to the land use plan, and noted plots were previously issued from one end of the island, but the council has now decided to allocate land from a previously unused area in Kanditheemu.

“We are proceeding according to proper procedures. The Decentralization Act gives authority to the council in issuing lands or plots, and we are proceeding according to the approved land use plan. When the new council assumed office in 2021, the land use plan was made and since 2022 we have been following the plan when issuing land,” Ahsan said.

He further commented it has been nearly 30 to 40 years since new plots were issued to locals from the island.

“It has been 30 to 40 years since we last issued any plots from the designated area, and we continued issuing land from the other side. So, the unused area had been idle, so we decided issuing land from said area after discussing it with the public. But now that we have come this far, and when have reached a point where we are dealing with removing the trees, it would obviously be met with some criticism, but majority of the people support it,” Ahsan added.

Ahsan affirmed the palms are removed by compensating their owners according to law, for which they had previously announced as well.

The council president said the last time plots were issued from Kanditheemu was in 2022, with 45 plots issued. Currently, the plan is to issue 60 plots, he added. Ahsan said the council had continued conducting surveys to see if there were locals who wanted plots, and decided to issue lands according to availability.