Male’ City councilors head to Housing Ministry, accusing Muthalib of refusing to meet

Members of the Male’ City Council went to the Housing Ministry on Wednesday, asking for a meeting with Housing Minister Dr. Abdulla Muthalib.

The councilors headed to Dharubaaruge, where the Housing Ministry is currently located, after a council meeting on Wednesday.

The elections in April had flipped a supermajority of seats in the Male’ City Council to the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). All councilors who attended Wednesday’s meeting, including one from the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC), went to the ministry.

Mayor Adam Azim told reporters that he last met Muthalib two years back, and he has been trying for days to get a meeting with him.

He said that the councilors decided to physically head over to the ministry and ask to see Muthalib because he hadn’t received a response to repeated requests for a meeting.

Azim said he has a lot of matters to discuss with Muthalib.

“…the most significant of which is housing. We haven’t received an update on the roads either. We haven’t received an update on how the road development project is progressing. And we also want to expedite the development of the fish market. But we haven’t received an update on that either,” he said.

Azim said that they also with discuss a petition received by the Male’ City Council regarding the construction of housing units at the Funa Vaa, a forest that is home to the some of the oldest trees in Vilimale’.

The councilors were unable to meet Muthalib despite going to the ministry.

Azim said that ministry officials told them that Muthalib was busy, and will not be able to meet them until next week.

Azim accused Muthalib of deliberately avoiding meeting him.

“This minister is being seen as someone who liked to hide,” he said.

Azim said that he does not believe the ministry can run housing projects in Male’ without the city council’s input.

He said that “a minister in an air-conditioned cabin” cannot have a better understanding of the situation of the residents of Male’ than the councilors.

Azim alleged that the government was acting in a manner detrimental to the interests of ordinary citizens, and asked Muthalib to work together with the city council to address the difficulties facing Male’ residents.

The complaints by the city council follows similar complaints by the Parliament. According to the parliamentary group of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Muthalib hasn’t responded to 22 questions sent by parliamentarians between December 4, 2024 and January 13, 2026.

The MDP’s parliamentary group members had also gone to the Housing Ministry previously, seeking a meeting with Muthalib.