A consultative meeting has been held at the initiative of the Male' City Mayor to resolve issues faced by vessel owners using the Male' North Harbour.
The meeting, held this afternoon at Maldives Ports Limited (MPL), was convened to discuss with the company's management to seek MPL's assistance in resolving the issues faced by vessel owners using the harbour. The meeting was attended by MPL's CEO Mohamed Wajeeh Ibrahim and senior officials of the company. Mayor Adam Azim attended the meeting along with a team comprising owners of some fishing and cargo vessels using the Male' North Harbour, as well as captains and the media. The Mayor was accompanied by Hulhumale' constituency councillor Ali Aiman and Galolhu North constituency councillor Mariyam Reehan Nazim.
During the meeting, the Mayor highlighted the difficulties faced by those using the harbour and the challenges faced by the City Council in resolving them. The Mayor also clearly explained how MPL could assist in resolving these issues. He specifically highlighted the problem of finding space to dock for vessels bringing goods from the atolls to unload and reload cargo.
After listening to the Mayor, MPL CEO Wajeeh stated that MPL wishes to provide full cooperation to the City Council in resolving the issues faced by vessel owners in using the harbour. He added that although a permanent solution to the current challenges in using the harbour cannot be brought at this time, MPL will work from today towards immediate solutions. In this regard, to resolve the issue of harbour congestion, he said arrangements will be made for cargo vessels to use the Hulhumale' harbour at specific times designated by MPL. The CEO also assured that with the month of Ramadan approaching, they will work very closely with the City Council for a permanent solution after the month ends.
Vessel owners also shared the issues and concerns they face during the meeting. They also shared ideas and suggestions on what the City Council and MPL could do to resolve these issues. Cargo vessel owners mainly highlighted the issue of not getting space to dock alongside the harbour after a long journey to Male', and the short time given to unload goods. They noted that due to the lack of space and time, perishable goods brought on the vessels cannot be unloaded and have to remain in the harbour for many days, which overall is a huge financial loss for them.
Today's discussions concluded after extensive talks on how MPL and the City Council will proceed with efforts to make it easier for vessel owners to use the harbour in the future. During the discussions, heads of MPL's harbour management sections also proposed how things will be planned and the procedures that will be used to resolve issues. It was also agreed to hold a series of meetings in the future for the two institutions to work together to achieve a common goal.
Speaking to Keyolha after the meeting, vessel owners highly praised the Mayor's efforts in resolving the issues they face. They specifically acknowledged and thanked the Mayor for closely monitoring these issues and working very closely with vessel owners.
