Parliament of the Maldives has passed the motion to increase the salaries of vice presidents of atoll councils. The motion passed with 41 votes in favour, following the approval from the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts.
The decision was made following a request via a letter by the Local Government Authority (LGA) to differentiate the salaries between the vice president and other members of the atoll councils. Currently, the salary for the vice president and members of the atoll councils is USD 1,295, while the salary of the president of atoll councils is USD 1,813.
The public accounts committee decided to increase the allowance for vice presidents of the atoll councils due to them being obligated to take up more responsibilities upon the absence of the president. Upon approval from the committee, the parliament passed the motion to increase the salaries of vice presidents of atoll councils to USD 1,360.
The parliament has estimated that the state spends USD 875,000 per month and USD 11 million per year on salaries and allowances for local councils.
The government has amended the decentralisation act to give more power and responsibilities to local councils. As such, councils receive income from local businesses and municipal services and funding from the state budget.
The terms of local councils have also been increased from three years to five years.