Maldives Parliament Speaker and former president, Mohamed Nasheed has stated that he considers parliament members as frontline workers during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The speaker made the statement during Wednesday’s parliament sitting.
The Parliament on Wednesday questioned the Health Minister regarding health services in the atolls and COVID-19 treatment facilities. After concluding the questioning session, Speaker Nasheed said parliament members are also among frontline workers.
Nasheed said the state’s governance and administration would not have been carried on smoothly had the parliament paused its work in response to the pandemic. He acknowledged the members’ dedication and thanked them for their service.
“The parliament members did not collect any allowances for being frontliners. Instead, they took pay cuts. I would like to thank all parliamentarians for their work,” said Nasheed.
The government has been giving a frontline allowance, and began disbursing the funds after several complaints were received over delays in issuing the funds. The Finance Ministry has revealed that over MVR 13.4 million has been disbursed to 1,045 frontline workers for their services between March 7 and end of June. The government is working to issue the allowance to those who have not received it at the earliest, said the ministry.
