A joint parliamentary committee consisting of members of the Committee on National Development and Heritage and the Committee on Decentralisation has approved the motion to abolish the Maldives Transport Authority (MTA).
In April, the motion was proposed on behalf of the government to nullify the Maldives Transport Authority Act and transfer the resources of MTA to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. The motion was proposed following public complaints of slow and inadequate services being provided by the authority.
The joint committee voted to approve the motion with 11 of the 13 parliamentarians present at the meeting voting in favour. The joint committee met with senior officials of the transport authority, transport ministry, Local Government Authority (LGA), and Attorney General's Office (AGO) before formulating its report.
Former President Abdulla Yameen abolished the Ministry of Transport and Communication in 2014 and transferred its work and responsibilities to various other state entities. He ratified the Maldives Transport Authority Act in 2016 and transferred a large portion of the responsibilities previously held by the transport ministry to the transport authority.
However, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih created the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and has made efforts to make services provided by the ministry easier and more efficient.