Four elected members, six staff, and one counter
What the council decides, what it only forwards, and how to see the minutes of any meeting.
What the council can and cannot decide
The council runs the island's own business. Waste collection, the harbour and its dues, the roads and the lighting, the council hall, the burial ground, the preschool building, and the office that keeps the island's own records.
A great deal of what people bring to us is not ours to decide, and pretending otherwise wastes a resident's year. Ownership of land is decided by the office that holds that authority, not here. Utility connections are the utility's. Schooling is the school's and the ministry that runs it. What we do in those cases is take the paperwork properly, forward it with a covering letter from the council, and chase it, which is worth more than most people expect.
Nothing on this website is a ruling. If you need to know where you stand on a plot or a boundary, come to the desk with what you have and we will tell you what the council's own record says and who decides the rest.
The council meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month. The agenda goes on the noticeboard outside the office three days before, residents may sit in, and the minutes are kept at the office for anybody who asks to read them.
The council members and the office
Ali Shareef
Elected in 2021. Holds the harbour and the roads. Sits at the counter himself on Monday mornings, which is the easiest time to catch him wit...
Fathimath Nasma
Runs the collection round and the household fee, and is the person to see about the tractor for building waste or a bill you cannot pay this...
Mohamed Jaleel
Keeps the plot register and takes the applications that are forwarded on. He will tell you what the record says and what the council cannot...
Aishath Sirmeen
Runs the office and the complaints book. Every reference number on this island comes from her desk, and she is the one who chases the files...
The questions we cannot answer on a page
Can the council tell me who owns a plot?
The council can tell you what its own record shows: which plot was allocated when, to whom, and with what measurements. That is often the oldest paper anybody has about land here and it is worth reading.
It is not a decision about ownership. The council does not decide that and will not write a view about it. Ownership questions are settled by the office that holds that authority, and we will tell you which one and forward your file with a covering letter.
My neighbour and I disagree about a boundary.
Come to the desk together if you can, and bring whatever papers each of you has, including the old ones.
We will read the council's record out to both of you, which resolves it about half the time simply because the measurements are there. Where it does not, the council cannot rule between you. What it can do is record that the dispute exists, so that nothing is allocated or built over it while it is being settled elsewhere.
How long does a plot application take?
The council's own part is two weeks: checking that the paperwork is complete, adding what our record shows, and forwarding the file with a covering letter.
After that it is with an office in Male and the honest answer is that we do not control the timing. What we do is chase it every month and tell you what we were told. Ask at the counter with your reference number and you will get the last thing we heard, dated.
Come to the counter
Bodu Magu, Hirimaadhoo. Sunday to Thursday, eight until two. Payments until one.