Vehicles to be banned on selected streets on Friday mornings

Male' City Council has decided to ban vehicles on some streets of Male' and Vilimale' during specified hours on Friday mornings.

In today's meeting of the Male' City Council, Mayor Adam Azim proposed that vehicles be banned on all streets except major streets from 5.30 am to 9 am on Friday mornings.

The mayor said that this is aimed at allowing children to spend time outdoors and play on the streets, and because this would offer a safe space for play for children in the Male' area.

"Children are stuck in rooms all day long. Even traffic isn't too high in those hours, however some people drive motorcycles at very fast speeds, so it will be safer when vehicles are banned on those roads during that time. There will be safety for children if we do that," Azim said.

Vilimale' Councilor Fathimath Nahula said that she did not believe it was in the best interests to impose the vehicle ban every Friday. Instead, she proposed that the travel ban be imposed on specified days each month.

Councilor Saif Fathih supported the Mayor's proposal.

Deputy Mayor Mohamed Areesh was also in favour, proposing however that instead of 5.30 am, the vehicle ban be imposed from 6 am to 9 am.

The council's final decision was to impose the travel ban in the specified hours on Friday mornings. Azim said that discussions will be held with Police as well to implement this.

There were vehicle bans imposed earlier as well, when Shifa Mohamed served as mayor. Even then, it was imposed with the help of Police.