Police halts issuing parking tickets

Maldives Police Service has ceased issuing parking tickets for violations.

Due to the lack of space in the overcrowded capital Male', parking spaces for the increasing number of motor vehicles are no longer adequate to meet the demand. The public has expressed concern that the police fine vehicle owners in large amounts for parking violations, while a solution for the parking issues has not been provided.

In an interview given to state TV, PSM, the Acting Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Hameed said on Wednesday that vehicle owners will no longer be fined for parking violations, as instructed by the government.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had pledged during the presidential campaign that he would not fine vehicle owners for parking violations before first addressing parking issues faced by the city.

Hameed noted that the traffic police spend a lot of time on the streets to identify parking violations, however, the fines imposed on the violators are pardoned due to sudden changes to government policies. Former President, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom had pardoned all traffic fines twice ahead of elections in the past.