Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer says some councils are not paying electricity bills despite having millions in their accounts.
He said this after the Councils highlighted high electricity bills as one of the challenges they are facing. They highlighted these issues during the 'Viavathi Raaje Conference' that concluded on Sunday.
The Councils said high electricity bills and other costs do not allow them to do much with their budgets and that it was unfair to give free land to utility company Fenaka on islands.
In response, Minister Ameer noted that his Ministry has come to notice that some Councils have accumulated millions in their accounts but still do not pay their electricity bills. He noted that some Councils have not even discussed the matter with Ministry and urged that engagement was needed to resolve the matters.
The Minister highlighted that some of the bills include those from 2018, 2019, and 2020 and that he understands that there would be difficulties in keeping up with the financial commitments during the pandemic but called for communication with the Ministry on such matters.
More than MVR 1 million is spent on electricity for Council offices of small islands and Fenaka usually allows a month to pass before issuing a red notice and eventually cutting off electricity due to unpaid bills.
