LGA suspends two K. Atoll councilors

Local Government Authority (LGA) has placed two members of the K. Atoll Council under three-month suspension.

K. Atoll Council’s vice president Abdulla Varis and member Majid Sulaiman were ordered to three-month suspension without pay effective Thursday, July 23.

Of the two, Varis is a representative of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), while Majid is a representative of Jumhoory Party (JP).

In a letter signed by LGA’s CEO Afshan Latheef addressed to K. Atoll Council’s president Ibrahim Rauf, LGA said that an audit conducted by the Auditor General’s Office on K. Atoll Council shows clear evidence Varis and Majid have embezzled public funds.

LGA said that its Board members find they should not be allowed to remain in their positions at the council, and believes that swift action is required in response to the case.

LGA said it made the decision to suspend the two councilors with the powers vested in the authority under Decentralization Act.

The two councilors have been barred from entering the council unless it is to access services as private citizens, and barred from use of the council’s documents and resources, and from representing the council in any way.

They have also been ordered to hand over any document or resource of the council in their possession.

LGA has instructed that the K. Atoll Council is to be run by the council’s president Ibrahim Rauf and the secretary-general during the suspension of the two councilors.

The three-month suspension of the two K. Atoll councilors marks the first such decision by the new LGA Board.