Umar: Police need to boost speed and effectiveness, new buildings come later

Former Home Minister Umar Naseer has criticized plans announced by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu to build a new state-of-the art headquarters for the police, stating that the primary focus should be on boosting the speed and effectiveness of police services, and that building new infrastructure comes later.

Former Home Minister Umar Naseer states that the primary focus should be on boosting the speed and effectiveness of police services, and that building new infrastructure comes later.

During a ceremony on Monday to mark the 93rd anniversary of the Maldives Police Service, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu announced plans to build a new state-of-the-art police headquarters in the capital, along with an additional building at the Iskandhar barracks.

In an appearance on SSTV’s ‘Baaru Hathareh’ show on Wednesday night, Umar said that what the police need is a way to increase the speed of its services, not initiatives that will increase expenses.

“The priority should be on increasing the speed of services, boosting effectiveness, punishing crimes and other such things. Shortage of space and other such concerns are secondary,” he said.

Umar acknowledged that the current headquarters, the Shaheed Hussain Adam Building, is far too small.

He believes the headquarters should be relocated to the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) headquarters located nearby.

Umar said that though separate legal entities, the police and military should be closely linked.

He believes that the two institutions should be connected, both administratively and infrastructurally.

“The state must be small in size by design. Therefore, we do not necessarily need a separate military institution, to have separate buildings and such. Our soldiers and police must be linked,” he said.

Umar said that though the two institutions must be link, they each must have a separate headquarters.