The Parliament on Monday sanctioned the government’s legislative amendment to push the deadline to establish water and sewerage service in every inhabited island to 2027.
The Water and Sewerage Act in effect from 2020 mandates the government to establish water and sewerage in all inhabited islands within five years.
Despite a major push to meet the deadline by the incumbent government, some water and sewerage projects are still ongoing forcing the government to draft the legislative amendment.
The amendment to the Water and Sewerage Act mandates that every inhabited island in the Maldives must have an adequate water and sewerage system by 2027.
During the Parliament sitting on Monday, the amendment was passed with 61 lawmakers voting in favour with seven against.
The amendment also specifies standards to be met by laboratories established in the country to provide quality and safety testing services for water supplied to public use and the requirements for the provision of water analysis services in those laboratories.
In addition, the amendment further details the provision to submit a performance report on water and sewerage services at the end of each calendar year along with service providers mandated to submit an annual report at the end of each calendar year consisting of a plan for the coming year and a performance report on the service provided in the previous year.