Nobody knows who owns Malé's land – and that's not an accident

One of the first to publicly voice outrage was opposition Maldivian Democratic Party MP Ahmed Shamheed. Criticism came swiftly and directly at Mayor Adam Azim.

Almost immediately, accounts linked to the council, many operated by the mayor's inner circle (most of whom hold various positions at the council, now rebranded as contract staff to avoid being called out for hiring consultants), entered the debate with contradictory claims. Some said the land belonged to the city council. Others insisted it did not. Some claimed it was on a 99-year long-term lease. Others said it was granted during President Dr Mohamed Muizzu's mayoralty.

This controversy exposed the deeply opaque and corrupt nature of land allocation in Malé. There is no transparency. No one knows who owns which plot, what it is used for, or how long the leases last. This confusion is not accidental. It is systemic and deliberate.

The 2019 amendments to the Decentralisation Act, specifically Section 56, explicitly mandated the city council to publish a land registry. Yet the Malé land register remains hidden from public view in blatant violation of the law. Citizens are kept in the dark about the official leaseholders, legal arrangements and rent payments. In a city as densely populated and contested as Malé, where every square foot counts, this lack of transparency is unacceptable and unsustainable.

Meanwhile, construction continues across various plots in the capital, often without clarity on who granted the permits or whether any legal process was followed. No one can say with confidence if a development is temporary, permanent, or legal at all. Land continues to be transferred and valued privately, while the public remains completely uninformed and excluded.

Let us be clear. Public land belongs to the people. Streets, open spaces, sports grounds, parks, and public squares are the collective property of Malé's residents. The city council has a legal and moral obligation to manage this land in the public interest. That means ensuring transparency, engaging the public, and following due process before making any decisions to lease or develop these spaces.

The law is unambiguous. All land allocation must be conducted through an open, transparent, and democratic process. Any decision to lease public land must be debated and approved in a general council session after meaningful public consultation. This is not just good governance. It is a constitutional obligation and a fundamental pillar of decentralised local democracy in the Maldives.

This core principle has been repeatedly and systematically undermined.

In 2021, 2022, and 2023, a small committee appointed by then mayor Dr Muizzu secretly moved to allocate several plots of public land. When I discovered these backroom deals, I filed formal complaints with parliament, the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Local Government Authority, all to no avail.

In June 2023, internal divisions fractured the PNC's majority in the city council. I seized that opportunity to propose amendments to the council's standing orders. These revisions strictly limited the leasing of land, whether short- or long-term, to only cases approved after open discussions and a council vote. Although this amendment was passed in a general session, it failed to resolve the fundamental issue. The public remains completely cut off from the data and decisions concerning their own land.

That is why I have consistently and unwaveringly demanded the publication of the land register. On September 25, 2024, while chairing the Vital Statistics and Digitisation meeting, I approved a motion to seek from the council's secretariat, a complete list of land under the council's control to the land registry committee. We instructed the land department to prepare a detailed list of each parcel of land, including its size, designated purpose if any, and to provide it by October 3, 2024.

To this day, neither I nor the committee has received the list. We have been repeatedly told by the mayor that a land audit is underway, a list is being compiled. 

This excuse is unacceptable. If land continues to be transferred and rent is collected, why can the details of these land plots not be revealed? What more needs to be audited? Whose interests are being protected? Who benefits from this delay? Will dodgy lease contracts be whitewashed by the time the audit is done?

In mid-July, another 500 square feet of space was quietly seized from the artificial beach area. This is part of the space long protected and cherished by Malé's surfing community for decades. And now, this space has been handed over by the council to unknown private party, for an unknown rent and lease period – all of which occurred without any public consultation.

Unfair, undervalued land lease contracts that violate public interest must never be enforced. The mayor should have the grit to stand against private interests and protect public assets. He cannot act in secrecy or against public sentiment and interest.

When I ran for mayor, I promised to disclose all rent, procurement, and service contracts of the Malé City Council. My promise was simple: make everything public. Adam Azim, who won the race, parroted the same pledge, mid-way into the campaign.

It has been more than 540 days since the new mayor swore his oath of office. There are no disclosed contracts. No land register. No answers. Less than 270 days remain of this council's term.

I have again written to Mayor Azim on July 20 demanding that the list be published. His response, which he gave on Raajje TV, is that I have voted to hand over these plots. That is a complete distraction. Let's say for argument's sake that I had voted for it. How does that stop the mayor from publishing the list of leased lands?

Full disclaimer: No votes have ever been taken to hand over these plots, and I have never and will never vote to give away precious, limited land without full public disclosure and consultation. The council's official meetings are broadcast live and a matter of public record.

It is time for Mayor Adam Azim to stop making excuses. The people of Malé deserve to know exactly what is happening to their land.

Saif Fathih is a columnist at the Maldives Independent and a serving member of the Malé City Council for Galolhu North. With his educational background in communications, international studies and public policy, he previously worked as a journalist, editor and public policy advisor, with roles including senior policy director at the ministry of national planning and editor of Ocean Weekly Magazine. Saif began his career as a radio producer and presenter at Minivan Radio, writer for Minivan Daily, and translator for the British High Commission and the European Union Mission to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. He is also the host of Ithuru Vaahaka, the Maldives Independent podcast.